Ártico

A great movie about resilience and our hypothetical ability to survive in a hostile environment. The film is captivating: you will be cold, you will be scared, you will be hungry, you will be exhausted, even within the cushioned armchair of your favorite movie theater. And Mads Mikkelsen is excellent, as usual.

After his plane crashes in the frozen Arctic, the solo pilot initially decides to stay with his plane. However, after a rescue attempt fails he is left with a badly injured person to care for, and she needs medical attention urgently. He decides to set out, with his patient, for the nearest likely source of help.

Great survival drama. Well told story by a writer-director, Joe Penna, who clearly respects the intelligence of his audience. No spoon-feeding of information, no easy outs, no unnecessary scenes. Good character engagement as we follow the adventures of the two stranded people, see their efforts to get to where they're going and will them on. The resourcefulness of Mads Mikkelsen's character helps too as you don't want all that effort and ingenuity wasted.

On that note, Mads Mikkelsen is great in the lead role. There's not much dialogue but he brings an unspoken empathy to his character, as he cares for the second person. That's one of the great things about the movie too, as it also makes you wonder what you would do in a similar situation.

Great film.

Patient, persistent & poignant in just the right doses, and powered by Mads Mikkelsen's effortlessly evocative performance, Arctic is one of the best films about a man stranded in the wilderness that's crafted with restraint, told with finesse & is incessantly captivating from start to finish. A promising debut for its first-time filmmaker, and another impressive addition to the Danish actor's oeuvre.

I usually like watching these types of 'survival' movies even though they always have the same plot, events and almost everything else is similar. This movie did not have any surprising elements that I hadn't seen before, but for some reason I didn't feel bored while watching it. I enjoyed it quite a lot even though you can expect what's coming. I think it's all because of the perfect performance of the actor. It's not a masterpiece, but it sure is worth your time. A great movie really.

Arctic is for a good part, a solo survival thriller centered around the character of Overgård who has been trying to make it out of the frozen Arctic after his plane crashed. This is one of those movies that focuses almost entirely on a single character with minimal dialogue. Much is conveyed through the body language and facial expressions of Overgård, played by the brilliant Mads Mikkelsen.

It's a grim but stunningly icy atmosphere that Joe Penna chooses to set his protagonist in, and we clearly know that it's not going to be easy to sit through. Overgård has been surviving on Arctic fish, trying his best to send out signals to any possible rescuers, and he doesn't know of an escape route (yet!). When supposed help does arrive, it only worsens the situation (watch the movie to know more!). Joe Penna wants us to witness the perseverance of his lead character by putting him through scenarios that get increasingly difficult each time. By doing so, he creates a spectacle that's minimalist but superbly effective.

Overgård's struggles make us want to forget our own for a good 90 minutes, and Mikkelsen, the fantastic performer that he is, ensures that his efforts remain worth the discussion later on. The dramatics are barely there; it all plays out so real that when Mikkelsen heaves 'essential baggage' up a snowy hill, we heave along with him. When he sheds a tear, we shed a tear along with him. And when an actor achieves this feat by getting to mouth barely any lines, that speaks volumes of his performance.

While watching 'Arctic', one cannot help but recall other popular survival drama/thrillers such as 'Cast Away', 'All Is Lost', and '127 Hours' and how each of these movies has had strong protagonists who we wanted to root for. Overgård can be added to this list without question. The cinematic hook here is how he decides not to let go of his humanity while making his way through the frosty surroundings. That said, the film does rely a little too much on the machismo of Mikkelsen and never rises above its basic, straightforward screenplay (there's no solid backstory attributed to Overgård and how he ended up there in the first place).

Nonetheless, Arctic is one of the better survival films that you'll have come across in recent memory. It'll make you want to stay off a diet that has fish in it; maybe even keep you away from air-conditioning for a little while. Arctic is, by all means, essential viewing!