A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.
In a year when Robert Eggers’ visually stunning but emotionally hollow “Nosferatu” left audiences wanting more, along comes a chilling masterpiece that proves style and substance can coexist. First-time feature film director Thordur Palsson crafts a bone-chilling Arctic nightmare that channels the paranoid spirit of John Carpenter’s “The Thing” while carving out its own identity.
The story unfolds in a remote Arctic inlet during the early 1800s, where winter’s icy grip has cut off all escape routes. Eva (Odessa Young), still mourning her husband’s passing, provides shelter to a group of local fishermen. Their routine existence shatters when they witness a ship’s violent destruction against the bay’s treacherous rocks. Their attempt to rescue survivors turns tragic when Daniel (Joe Cole), one of Eva’s fishermen, strikes a desperate survivor with an axe after he grabs Eva during a rescue attempt.
This act of violence sets off a chain of increasingly disturbing events. Helga (Siobhan Finneran), the settlement’s Nordic housekeeper, plants seeds of supernatural dread with tales of draugr – vengeful revenants who torment the living through nightmares before claiming their lives. Eva dismisses these stories as superstition, but as her community begins to fracture and die under mysterious circumstances, her skepticism wavers. When dream-like visions of a sinister presence begin bleeding into her waking hours, and Helga vanishes without a trace, Eva must confront the possibility that the ancient Nordic legends might be more than mere folklore.
Cinematographer Eli Arenson transforms Iceland’s stark landscape into a character itself, with every frame emphasizing the crushing isolation of this frozen hell. The bitter cold seems to seep through the screen, making viewers instinctively reach for a blanket. At the center of this frozen nightmare, Odessa Young delivers a compelling performance as Eva, shouldering both the weight of leadership and the guilt of turning away desperate souls to their doom.
Palsson’s film clearly draws inspiration from Carpenter’s “The Thing” and like its predecessor, it traps its characters in an icy prison, where dwindling supplies and growing paranoia prove as deadly as any supernatural threat. As the body count rises and food stores empty, Eva recalls Helga’s words about fire being the only weapon against a draugr. This knowledge leads to a climactic decision that will determine not just her fate but that of everyone left alive in her frozen community.
Where Eggers’ “Nosferatu” stumbled despite its visual flourishes, Palsson triumphs by blending stunning imagery with genuine terror and emotional depth. For those seeking a horror film that sends genuine shivers down their spine, this Arctic chiller delivers in spades.
In Theaters Friday, January 10th
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