r/Ijustwatched • u/gabriel191 • 10d ago

IJW: Arctic (2018)

Originally posted here: https://short-and-sweet-movie-reviews.blogspot.com/2024/12/arctic-2018-movie-review.html

The survival drama "Arctic" was the feature debut of Brazilian filmmaker and musician Joe Penna, best known for his YouTube channel MysteryGuitarMan. Penna co-wrote and directed the film, which stars Mads Mikkelsen as Overgård, the lone survivor of a plane crash in the Arctic Circle.

The movie starts well after the fact with Overgård relatively safe and as comfortable as possible in his daily survival routine, which involves ice fishing, working on a huge "SOS" spelled out in the snow and operating a distress beacon with the help of a hand-crank generator. When a helicopter responding to his beacon crashes, he finds himself saddled with a severely injured survivor (María Thelma Smáradóttir). As her health begins to deteriorate, he's forced to embark on a perilous trek through the icy wasteland in order to find rescue for both himself and his unconscious companion.

The movie is more character than plot driven. It operates with minimalistic delivery of information regarding its characters, leaving it up to the viewer to pick up subtle hints sprinkled throughout. This removes pointless exposition, but it's also fairly slow paced and features virtually no dialogue, leaving much of the narrative and emotional heavy lifting to Mikkelsen, who achieves a wonderful performance, a complex one-man show that never falters thanks to the actor's ability to communicate a lot more with just his expressive eyes and face.

Penna does a great job creating an almost first-person account of Overgård's harrowing survival story that immerses us in his isolation and despair, as well as the frustation and helplesness one usually faces when confronted with nature's most unforgiving environment. It is unfortunately held back from greatness by a rushed and somewhat unsatisfying ending, that comes about abruptly and feels a bit too convenient.

Fans of survival movies should be able to enjoy "Arctic", but some might be put off by the movie's glacial pacing and lack of a traditional narrative structure. I do recommend this movie, as I think it's one of the best of its kind, but be warned, it might take a little warming up to realize how good it really is.

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u/5o7bot 10d ago

Arctic (2018) PG-13

Survival is the only option.

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.

Drama | Adventure
Director: Joe Penna
Actors: Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Thelma Smáradóttir, Tintrinai Thikhasuk
Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 65% with 1,208 votes
Runtime: 1:38
TMDB

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