Rökkur

This film just couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Was it a love story, a drama, a horror film or a slasher movie? Honestly, it was really stupid. Someone knocks on the door in the middle of the night. On the third time of knocking, Gunnar opens immediately and there's no one there. No one's running away, no one came to murder the lads.

Dire warnings abound. The neighbour warns of burglaries, the petrol station girl warns about hitch hikers, the neighbour again suddenly remembers to warn about an eccentric farmer. All through, Gunnar and Einar are working through their relationship breakdown and their memories, some painful. This might have been an interesting film if it had simply followed that path. For a start it would have been thirty minutes shorter once all the supernatural stuff was taken out.

I lost count of how many times the hoary old device was employed of having someone rush across the frame in front of the camera while the lead's back was turned and he was looking for the person. It didn't make me jump the first time and I was getting fed up on the sixth or seventh occasion. On other occasions it was worse. People being chased disappeared and then were seen fleetingly at the corner of a house, disappearing. So the chase began again, only to have another glimpse of the figure rushing round a corner or vanishing into a doorway.

Absurd coincidences abound, Gunnar finds Einar's phone in the middle of a lava field after he just happened to stop at that particular spot by the road.

There are occasions when people speak and are visible but aren't really there. It's utterly risible.

This could have been a good two-parter exploring sexuality and break ups. To pace it a bit, a few of the village inhabitants could have been introduced during the narrative. Instead, we got a mishmash of nonsense and genres that was half an hour too long.

Not recommended.

I went into this not knowing what to expect. Is it a slasher? Ghost story? Psychological thriller? Home invasion? I ended up finding out it's a slow mystery. The movie runs a little too long but the characters are interesting and the movie had a decent plot and for that I give it 6 stars. Not bad at all, good, just not great. The actors performances were great though. It's unique to find LGBTQ mysteries so see it for yourself if this subject interests you.

I decided to watch the film because it promised to be a non-mainstream little gem. Considering the boundary conditions (especially the small budget and the short shooting time) I was really amazed by the actors' performances. I had the feeling that they prepared excellently for their parts, while the director knew exactly what to show. The atmosphere is captivating (although a bit cliché and borrowed from countless other drama-horror movies) and the Island landscapes superb (however not really owing to the director but to nature).

All things being the film was very promising, but ended up being very mediocre. The characters do not evolve much, new random personality elements appear without being explained or supported, the story line sucks heavily and the ending is predictable and nonsensical at the same time. Countless questions go by unanswered. For some this is not a problem, since they are simply connected to the heroes' past and are open to interpretation, others, however, are crucial to the story line (like why on earth at a given time one would in the middle of the night get off the car at start wandering in a deserted place) and make the protagonists simply look stupid.

Watch the film if you like National Geographic documentaries, enjoy the sceneries shown and the acting, but switch off any need to explain or even remotely understand the plot.

Ahhh, the power of the Indie. Do whatever, splash whatever paint on any canvas, call it "art" and let the viewer decide because the artist has no clue.

Oh, sorry, that's just 10% of the movie. The rest of it was nearly fantastic. Well written, completely believable acting, beautifully shot, awesome score and song (in credits.) Not to mention, you truly believed the love between the leads.

But, oddly, and as that paint splashes, brief moments of "horror" are spread throughout this movie which is mostly a drama. An effective drama and those horror elements almost want to stand in the way of this being elevated.

The movie's 1st hero is "Steve Buscemi as Norman Bates" who goes back to control, er, I mean, be the dominate one to the submissive, er, lemme start over. Concerned "Norman" thinks his ex might do something bad. Turns out, his ex is slightly off and he might have motivations of his own.

"Norman" and his ex spend several days in his ex's parents' isolated cabin and while they revisit their recent and abrupt breakup, weird things are going on around the town with a population of 2. (Maybe more, depends on what you call "population.")

The weird stuff, I guess could blend in with the main story, but it also could've easily been deleted and though it might have been a thick and heavy drama, I probably would've loved it more. Especially without the ending we did see.

No spoilers, but it's another indie-cliché of a finale that's kind of disappointing. Especially in a movie so competently made in so many ways.

Well, it's nearly 2 hours. Maybe we can see a cut of this without the weird, Exacto Knife Knocker Killer and his Kid.

***

Final thoughts: Shudder, oh, you "horror" streaming service. Disappoint me, you do more than impress me. You keep getting movies that have 1-10% horror elements and feature them as the latest in horror and/or *EXCLUSIVE TO SHUDDER!* Huh. 1-10% horror IS NOT A HORROR MOVIE. It's a drama or comedy or action with so little horror, it's like calling Disney's The Lion King horror since it had 40 seconds of scary scenes in an hour and half. Tsk. Please stick to what you advertise.

This is a powerful film, but not for the faint of heart!

The isolated Icelandic landscape setting gives this break-up story story an eerie feel. The characters' memories of their broken relationship are as beautiful as they are haunting. The film is sometimes frighteningly tense, and despite the scarce dialoge it manages to stay aesthetically interesting throughout.