Utøya

Based on true events, Utøya follows dozens of teenage campers, including Andrea Berntzen’s Kaja and Aleksander Holmen’s Magnus, as they attempt to stay alive after a mass shooter arrives on their isolated island. Filmmaker Erik Poppe, working from a script by Siv Rajendram Eliassen and Anna Bache-Wiig, does a fantastic job of initially drawing the viewer into the erratically-paced proceedings, as Utøya kicks off with a striking, engrossing opening stretch detailing the aforementioned campers’ initial confusion and eventual realization – with the tense atmosphere heightened by Berntzen’s sympathetic, engaging turn as the personable central character. And while Poppe’s single-take approach does, at the outset, heighten the gripping vibe, Utøya progresses into a meandering midsection that contains far too many interludes of a decidedly underwhelming and less-than-spellbinding nature (eg Kaja and others take cover behind a tree for what feels like an eternity). The ongoing inclusion of a few gripping sequences, including (and especially) a heartbreaking digression wherein Kaja attempts to help a fallen colleague, helps buoy one’s dwindling interest, admittedly, and yet it’s equally clear that Utøya‘s seriously flabby second half prevents the tragic finale from packing the emotional punch one might’ve anticipated – which does, in the end, cement the picture’s place as a well-intentioned misfire that never quite takes off.

** out of ****