Alexander Skarsgård leads a stellar cast in Robert Eggers’ latest, The Northman, which provides all the weirdness, gore, beauty and singularity that you would expect from this director’s take on a Viking tale of vengeance.
It’s an absolute Eggers equation, adding together expectations of his stylised and violent version of an historic epic with rabid commitment from his actors, which certainly equals a movie with undeniable power – whether it’s to everyone’s tastes or not.
On only his third feature-length film, following The Witch and The Lighthouse, it’s impressive that the writer and director already has a distinguishable-enough style that audiences can know what to expect and strap themselves in accordingly.
However, for every horror fan that thrills at the (literal) gut-spilling and decapitation, as well as repeatedly bizarre religious rituals around bonfires, there are others less enraptured by his bold vision, which does have a tendency towards indulgence at moments.
With young Viking prince Amleth (played ably by Oscar Novak before Skarsgård) at its heart, The Northman follows the youngster’s growth as he flees his home following the murder of his father King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) by his uncle, Fjölnir (Claes Bang).
Powered by his own personal motto to avenge (his father’s death), save (his mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman)) and kill (his treacherous uncle), Amleth returns years later to carry out his plan.