The Northman

Directed by Robert Eggers, The Northman follows Viking-era warrior Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) as he sets out to avenge the brutal murder of his father (Ethan Hawke’s Aurvandill) at the hands of his own brother (Claes Bang’s Fjölnir). Filmmaker Eggers, working from a screenplay written with Sjón, delivers an often astonishingly impenetrable endeavor that contains few, if any, elements designed to capture and sustain the viewer’s attention, and there’s little doubt, ultimately, that the arms-length atmosphere is compounded (and then some) by an ongoing emphasis on frustratingly (and palpably) indecipherable dialogue – as Eggers has seemingly directed his talented roster of heavily-accented performers to mumble and whisper their way through the picture’s entire, interminable runtime. It is, as a result, not surprising to note that The Northman suffers from a pervasive lack of context that grows increasingly problematic/disastrous as it progresses, with Eggers’ frequent reliance on head-scratching asides and digressions, including a series of laughably pretentious dream sequences, certainly going a long way towards perpetuating the nigh endless vibe. And although Eggers has admittedly peppered the proceedings with a very small handful of engaging interludes (eg Amleth violently storms a small village alongside other Vikings), The Northman builds towards a completely (and hopelessly) underwhelming climax that ensures it concludes on as lackluster a note as one could’ve envisioned – with the end result an epically-misguided trainwreck that couldn’t possibly be less interesting or involving.

* out of ****