The Northman (2022)

Set in 895 AD, a Viking King (Ethan Hawke) returns to his island kingdom. However, his treacherous brother (Claes Bang) murders the King and carries off his wife (Nicole Kidman). The King's young son (Oscar Novak who morphs into Alexander Skarsgard) vows to avenge his father's death. Directed by Robert Eggers (THE LIGHTHOUSE), this epic tale of vengeance is impressive visually. Jarin Blaschke's cinematography does the Ireland and Iceland locations justice. Eggers' previous films THE WITCH and THE LIGHTHOUSE (which was in B&W) were both small scale movies but he shows a talent for big screen epics here. However, I must confess that although I found it quite entertaining, it lacked the freshness and audacity of his first two films so in that respect, it was a disappointment. But the acting is good and Eggers' raw and brutal mise en scene is never less than engrossing but in the long run, it falls short in the memorability department. With Anya Taylor Joy, Willem Dafoe, Bjork and Gustav Lindh.