One show that I really enjoy is “Dual Survival” on The Discovery Channel, where two survival experts with few resources are placed in situations where they lost or stranded in order to show the audience how to survive and look for ways to increase your chances for rescue. Growing up in Montana, I have been in the mountains in the middle of winter and I personally know how brutal Mother Nature can be if you are in stranded situation. With all of this, I was definitely interested in “Turning Point” director Joe Penna’s new film, “Arctic”.
This film stars only Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and Maria Thelma Smaradottir (Prisoners) with Mikkelsen playing Overgard, the only survivor from a plane crash in un-inhabited part the Arctic who has figured out a way to survive and at the same time work on ways to increase his chances of being rescued. One day a helicopter arrives and due to the weather crashes and only the female pilot (Smaradottir) survives but is injured. Once Overgard has figured out where he is located, he decides to try and make it to the closest outpost while carrying out the injured woman while also facing off against Mother Nature.
Even though the scenery is just pure barren land of just snow and rock, the locations used in Iceland shows the beauty and danger of snow covered nature very well. Smaradottir plays her role well, but Mikkelsen does an incredible job especially with only a few lines of dialogue. He truly shows the pain and hardship that these elements can inflict on a human being in a way that blew me away.
At about ninety-seven minutes long, “Artic” did not drag at all, keeping me interested with content that is more realistically brutal than any film I have seen in the last few years and even done in the right way. It did make me uncomfortable a few times, but definitely got its point across. There is nothing in this film that I did not like, so it is getting the coveted full price in theaters recommendation with multiple cash register sound effects.