The Northman Movie Review (No Spoilers)

The Northman is one of the darkest most brutal movies I’ve ever seen. It’s not so much the violence of the movie, which there are some gruesome horrifying scenes. It’s rather the world that is built by the film makers. A mystical world built from ancient religions, revenge, family & honor. And a portrayal of humanity at its absolute worst. A sect of Vikings & Northman that makes Ragnar Lothbrok look like a choir boy. This movie did a phenomenal job of scaring the living hell out of you.

Many of Robert Eggers movies portray the use of psychedelics and psilocybin in a beautiful mind bending way. This movie however is like a bad trip. The tones set by the music, the rhythmic humming, and distortion puts the audience into a trance. The connection of men and beasts. The ability to see our ancestry, but most of all the use of Norse religion in a terrifying unprecedented way.

This movie cultivates a world where people are stripped down to their most basic animalistic selves. A world where the lines of beast and men are blurred. A world that captures primal rage and primal fear. I honestly can’t even say that I enjoyed this movie. There are parts at the beginning so horrifying I thought of walking out. Out of the 25 people in the theater at the beginning of this movie only 4 people made it the entire length of the film. That’s insane, and it wasn’t because this was a bad movie. The Northman was filmed and made beautifully. It just scared the living shit out of everyone. However, the story is amazing, the acting is superb, and the fear inducing primordial style of this movie is incredibly unique, and for that I give this movie 8/10.