The Northman is Robert Eggers's third directorial project. He follows up The Witch and The Lighthouse with another film that features the highlights of his style. If you enjoy beautiful compositions, you'll appreciate the work done in this film. Like his other films, it combines gritty realism with an elevated mysticism that leaves the audience wondering what is really happening. While The Northman is much more of a historical epic, it still uses some elements from his horror past.
The story is rather a simple one woven with mysticism and legend that brings the characters together. In a classic revenge story, Amlith must avenge the murder of his father, the king, by his uncle and save his mother. Along the way, he meets a woman also on a path of revenge against his uncle. Together they must dismantle their enemy and meet their fate.
The deep loneliness and burden felt by Amleth, played brilliantly by Alexander Skarsgard, is reminiscent of The Lighthouse. This character's burden, however, isn't one of a secret, but one of understanding his responsibility. The other performances are brilliant as well. Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Nicole Kidman are all terrifying in their Viking roles. Each has a scene that leaves the audience stunned by the in-your-face intensity of the pivotal moments in the film. Kidman, in particular, has one scene that single-handedly changes the atmosphere of the film.
Claes Bang and Anya Taylor-Joy are equally brilliant as Fjölnir and Olga. Taylor-Joy shows power in simplicity. The character does one of the most badass things I've ever seen on screen. The character is strong without howling like her Viking counterparts. Bang, on the other hand, plays the classic bastard, primarily acting in his own self-interest.
The thing I really enjoyed about this story the most, though, is the way it borrows from the source material of Shakespeare's Hamlet. While it is based on a different story, I'll speak in Hamlet terms because I know it better. The "evil" uncle is a bastard who wants what belongs to him. The King begs his son to avenge his death. The mother is now married to the uncle. Amleth is actually the Viking Hamlet. Instead of leaving to learn philosophy, he left to learn about the brutality of war and death? The mysticism of talking beyond the grave is still in the story. I, do think, however, that the elevated language was influenced by Shakespeare. We know classic literature's influence on Eggers' work from The Lighthouse, so it is unsurprising that it continues here.
So, if you like great directing, brilliant acting, and surprising storytelling, but don't mind violence and the grotesque, this is a film you'll want to see.