A man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long awaited rescue. However, after a tragic accident, his opportunity is lost and he must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.
Martha De Laurentiis Joe Penna Christopher Lemole Tim Zajaros Ryan Morrison Manu Gargi Einar Thorsteinsson Noah C. Haeussner
Arctique
It doesn’t take long for Joe Penna’s “Arctic” to establish itself as one of the best movies ever made about a man stranded in the wilderness. In fact, there’s a small but crystalline moment in the first act (some 15 or 20 minutes in, maybe) when this hellishly cold portrait of human endurance claws ahead of the pack and never looks back.
The context is easy to describe — the conflict frozen across Mads Mikkelsen’s face is not. The Danish star, throwing himself into an Iceland shoot that could probably make for a compelling survival story unto itself, plays a downed pilot named Overgård. The nearly wordless film starts at some point after his plane has crashed into a deep…
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Luckily there's almost no dialogue in this so you don't have to hear people constantly mispronouncing it as "artic."
From its simple but heart-wrenching opening scene, 'Arctic' is a beautifully shot and emotionally gripping slow burn that manages to say so much about human survival, despite hardly featuring any spoken words.
Read my full article... www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-arctic-the-ice-isnt-the-only-thing-thats-chilling
Brutal. Arctic’s greatest strength is its realism: the survivors aren’t superpowered beings who can overcome anything or sleep in the corpse of a bison, but rather normal people, and it sucks us into the ice-cold world the film presents us with. There’s no tragic backstory, no lengthy exposition, just two people desperately trying to survive. Leading actor Mads Mikkelsen has never been this good before; it’s easily the best performance of his career, all in his eyes and the way he drags his unconscious costar along in a sled. It’s also shot beautifully, letting the beauty of the harsh Arctic come across as alien and barren. What we have here is a solid survival film with some great acting, and it’s a highlight of the calendar year so far.
100 Movies Challenge (1st Apr - 30th Jun)
#24
This intense dramatic film about survival had me on the edge of my seat for the most part.
Mads Mikkelson is excellent in this movie. He is honestly one of the most underrated actor working today. He did a great job at non-verbally displaying human emotions and intense suffering.
But the overall directing and story didn’t do much for me, nor did it differentiate itself numerous other survival-themed movies. Which is unfortunate.
Survival films are an interesting breed and come with their own convention of circumstances. ARCTIC spares us the buildup to the inevitable by opening on a man (Mads Mikkelsen) who has already been stranded for some time. The audience is left to surmise what happened previously as we observe his newfound routine.
Interestingly, co-writer/director Joe Penna, making his feature-length directorial debut, initially planned for this story to be set on Mars, but after learning about THE MARTIAN transplanted it to the titular inhospitable plane. Mikkelsen turns in some stoic work in what is a mostly one-man show. I’m not sure if it’s the trudging pace, the straightforward path or a combination of the two, but this film really wore out its enticing opening.
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I’m kind of a sucker for survival - drama films, and behind Life of Pi this may be one of the best I’ve ever seen. Arctic is a spectacular movie, it is very dramatic and stressful. I love the Arctic setting, it is so beautiful, but it is so threatening in the story. You can almost feel the cold wind on your cheeks. The cinematography is wonderful and the acting is genuinely some of the best I’ve ever seen. This is another one available on Prime, please go seek it out.
Even without the added intrigue of romance or cannibalism (or much dialogue to speak of), “Arctic” manages to compel viewers to stick around until the very end
I would have liked to watch this in the cinema bc there were some brilliant shots which I bet looked great on the big screen! Tbh though I probably would have been kicked out for constantly screaming at Mads to stand up and carry on bc he has another season of Hannibal to film. Good directorial debut by the lovely MysteryGuitarMan!
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