The third time is just as charming for filmmaker Robert Eggers it seems. Reviews for the director’s third feature film “The Northman,” a $90 million budget esoteric dark Viking revenge tale, have arrived and are yielding his best notices to date.
With 43 reviews counted, the film is tracking a 91% (8.1/10) on Rotten Tomatoes which is even better than the 90% (7.8/10) of his acclaimed supernatural drama debut “The Witch,” and the 90% (8.0/10) of his wacky Melville-meets-Lovecraft second effort “The Lighthouse”.
The film was a famously tough production with the cast and crew gruelling away in difficult conditions. But it appears to have paid off with rave reviews for leading man Alexander Skarsgard’s performance alongside strong support from Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Willem Dafoe and the return to the screen of singer Björk.
The project is dubbed both his most accessible film to date, and yet still very much his signature style. Here’s a sampling of review quotes:
“All you really need to know about ‘The Northman’ – a $90 million Viking revenge saga directed by Robert Eggers – is that every single minute of it feels like a $90 million Viking revenge saga directed by Robert Eggers. [It’s] a primal, sinewy, gnarly-as-f–k 10th-century action epic… a big swing in the face of our blockbuster-or-bust theatrical climate.” – David Ehrlich, Indiewire
“A brawny fever dream which makes the freaky artisanal horror that put director Robert Eggers on the map look like Disney movies. It’s an audaciously bonkers movie… the film makes you appreciate how seldom we get to see a big, noisy, brawling spectacle these days” – David Rooney, THR
“Robert Eggers blood-soaked Viking epic isn’t just the film of the year so far it’s a widescreen rallying cry for cinema in the age of streaming.” – Philip De Semlyen, Time Out
“The best kind of multi-quadrant movie: Without abandoning his arthouse credentials, Eggers has made a rousingly rough, extreme action saga that has the potential of attracting the kind of viewers who might have found his previous work impenetrable.” – Alonso Duralde, TheWrap
“A staggering feat of visceral filmmaking, The Northman, like Eggers’ previous films, warrants profound analysis while still delivering a high-octane action odyssey.” – Carlos Aguilar, The Playlist
“Although the film ends up as a shallow rumination on revenge and single-minded dominance, it’s hard to beat as spectacle. In terms of making history exciting and engrossing, The Northman is about as titillating as gateway drugs get.” – Katie Rife, Polygon
“The classiest Vikesploitation epic you can imagine, complete with a doomsday Bjork cameo. That it’s ultimately rather dull and hardly any fun is almost beside the point.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“The Northman” is set to open exclusively in cinemas from April 22nd.
