It wasn’t quite as good as The Lighthouse but still a very enjoyable historical action film. The cinematography was amazing, every frame looked like a metal album cover. They also didn’t sugar coat the Vikings, showing rather vividly the fucked up shit they’d do, cw: there’s a scene I’m fairly sure is inspired by “Come and See” and it’s not fun to watch.
Weirdly I feel like I would have enjoyed the film better if instead of setting it in a historical setting they had just gone pure fantasy. The movie plays pretty lose with realism and honestly at times felt more like an art house adaptation of Conan the Barbarian, which I feel like I would have enjoyed even more.
We need more Conan movies. It’s the best of the problematic early 20th century fantasy products. Like, it actually has female protagonists who do things. It also has pretty cringe depictions of “picts” who are just native American expies. Can it be salvaged? Time will tell.
