A man stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown.
We don’t even see Overgård’s small plane crash into the icy arctic wilderness. If anyone was with him they’re dead now (I’m assuming he didn’t eat them).
In fact we get no backstory at all. We know nothing about him, apart from what we witness.
It makes Arctic stand out, that Overgård is doubly isolated; physically so, but also from his past. There are no shortcuts for us to work out what kind of a man he is; whether his actions come from a need to make amends, or if he’s led a previously blameless existence. He’s a blank slate for us (and for some probably a mirror).
This is a riveting film, partly because it is also stark and spare; the only fluff is the padding inside his dirty red ski jacket and his eventual companion’s sleeping bag. But such austerity needs an exceptional performance to carry it.
Trudge forward Mads Mikkelsen, whose increasingly weatherbeaten face conveys every all-too-believable response to his life or death dilemmas. Survival stories are pointless if you aren’t invested in the protagonist, but we can’t help root for Overgård as Mikkelsen takes him from enigma to, emotionally if not practically, a sort of everyman. Even Overgård’s heroism is of the stoical kind, though he’s certainly built for this landscape.
He’s undoubtedly way more skilled in this environment than most of us, and he understands how to maximise his chances. It’s always daylight there (something which makes his struggle even more relentless and inescapable), but he sets alarms to stay on track, and ticks off the days.
Home is the small cargo plane; he fishes to survive, eating it raw. Trips outside into the inhospitable terrain are to work out potential escape routes, wind his radio, and clear lines of snow away so only the black rock below is visible. I wasn’t sure what he was doing until overhead shots revealed it as a giant (and perfectly formed!) SOS in black against the white snow.
A potential rescue by helicopter turns into disaster when it crashes nearby; the pilot is killed and the young woman with him (Maria Thelma Smáradóttir) is badly injured. Overgård staples her wound and takes her back to the plane. She comes inadvertently bearing gifts, including a lighter, some food, and even a sled; and maybe a little bit of luck as one of his fishing lines has caught a giant sea trout. They have fish and noodles cooked in the plane that night, and it looks like the most delicious meal ever.
Her injuries and his dwindling supplies mean leaving the downed plane and trying to reach safety is their only option. Packing her up in the sleeping bag, he straps her to the sled and starts walking, dragging it behind him.
Director and co-writer Joe Penna certainly puts Overgård through it, and there are times, as he determinedly trudges onwards, dragging his companion, that it feels as if we’re complicit in his suffering. What more can go wrong, I wondered, before something else went wrong. But it all feels very real, and at 98 minutes, resolution comes briskly for us if not for him (though as he tries to pull the sled again and again up a rocky cliff it feels agonisingly slow).
The snowstorms, sub-zero temperatures, and empty, inhospitable expanse are lethal but neutral. More aggressive is a polar bear; its snarling head squeezed through the entrance to a small cave in which the pair are sheltering is terrifying.
It’s an interesting bond, the one between Overgård and the young woman, based certainly on fellow feeling, though also partly on guilt and debt. Even though she’s mostly unconscious, there’s an interdependence there. The helicopter crashed because it came to rescue Overgård; the pilot is dead and she is dangerously ill. She’s given him a sled, fire, and food. He aims to save her, but as that connection strengthens, his few words move from practicalities to soothing reassurance.
The spaces are vast and flat, surrounded by jutting hills. The wasteland may be pure white interspersed with black jagged boulders, but above it’s surprisingly colourful: subtle tones of peach, grey, white and pale blue divide land and sky. Distant shots show just the red jacket and olive green sleeping bag against the white snow, moving slowly.
While usually I’d rather you watched a movie reflected in the back of a spoon than not watch one at all, Arctic deserves a big screen: for its vast emptiness, the desolation, the little figure struggling footstep by footstep towards safety while pulling a sick woman behind him.
Even Overgård’s moral dilemmas, his balancing of logic and humanity – abandon her for good, push on with her even if it makes it more likely neither will survive – need a space big enough for their implications.
Overgård the man, though, is stripped back emotionally to his bare bones. Masculine without ever being toxically so, Overgård is big and brawny, capable, and used to the cold. But there’s no one else to see or hear what he does, and no one to impress. This is the real Overgård. Resolve, fear, heartbreak, astonishment, near-hysteria and resignation flit across his exhausted face at different times.
I liked Arctic‘s layered approach to what survival means, whether taking an “every man for himself” approach can ever be worth it. Though this gritty story also works simply as a will they/won’t they make it movie, too.
It’s a fight against the odds but it always feels believable. Overgård’s stoicism, physical strength, emotional resilience and knowledge may not be a common combination but it’s not inexplicable. He’s a hero, not a superhero.
vod / dvd / blu-ray from amazon uk
Watch the Arctic trailer (and scroll down for the ending):
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My assumption is that they are rescued at the end – they seem to give up then we see a helicopter. Do read the comments below though, it’s really fascinating seeing how many of us see the ending differently, and reading people’s reasons why. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the film!
Were they rescued or they died without seeing the helicopter.
My assumption is rescued
Just finished watching Arctic and I agree with Sarah…except I choose the word “presumption” instead of assumption because I’m a member of the glass half-full club.
Unexpectedly I found tears welling up in my eyes in the climax when Overgard lights the torch, then lights his snow parka to wave at the rescue team to show them where he and the woman are. It’s the emotion on his face (and the soundtrack). Magnificently performed!
This film should be seen on a big screen for real impact.
Yes I wish I’d seen it at the cinema. It was at London Film Festival last October but I missed the press screening. Was kicking myself afterwards.
I just have to ask, what in the world was wrong with the woman? It seems to me that the helicopter crashed, she got a cut on her stomach somehow and was consussed? There didn’t seem to be any other injuries, like a broken back or any serious injuries. So why could she not speak or be conscious at all, like not even to the point of eating? But somehow she could squeeze his hand? There were many minor plot problems in this film but this one is by far the worst. The only plausible reason I can think of for her symptoms is perhaps a serious illness. There were no indications of this (like throwing up or shivers) and if she had it, it couldn’t have came from the crash, obviously, so it could have came from food? I just don’t know, this doesn’t make much sense to me. Does anyone have an answer to her horrible mental conditions and lack of will to live?
It’s anyones guess lol. I guess it’s all in what YOU want to have happen. I’m a cup half full kind of person.
Two alternative summations about the ending:
Either he was near death at the point when the helicopter does approach them and he just lay down and gave up.
Or –
The helicopter, now with a better approach pattern, returned in minutes after leaving them, and Overgard and the woman were rescued and survived.
I’m reminded of other magnificent movies with similar ambiguous endings: The Lighthouse of the Orcas (Netflix), and Life of Pi.
It’s really interesting seeing people’s different responses to this – I assumed he was definitely rescued (but it would have played on my mind for ages if I let myself think they were missed…)
My husband and I just watched this on TV, and we both vehemently disagree about the ending. I took it as he lay down and died, just too overcome from his wound, and the exertion, and the failure of rescue. Hubby thinks he just was unconscious or “resting”. It is very very much up to the viewer, or to have the filmmaker tell us what was intended, I guess.
It’s really fascinating isn’t it, how the same scene can play out so differently – I was convinced they both survived but lots of people see it as you have, with him dying of exhaustion. (Great film though, with either ending.)
I enjoyed this movie. I believe they survived, for two reasons.
First, there were a few turns of event which suggested that the writers intended the hand of Fate to be playing a part: (1) when the crashed helicopter’s panel kept flapping and it was drawing O’s attention to the sledge; (2) when O’s biggest-ever fish appears after he takes the woman back to the plane: (3) when O walked away from the seemingly-dead woman and ignored the symbolic little flower of life – and promptly fell down a hole which led him back to her. It might fit with that mysticism that in the moment he finally reconciled himself to his fate, the rescue helicopter appeared.
More scientifically, O had only been lying down for a few seconds when the helicopter came. There was no storm and conditions seemed reasonably good. It’s extremey unlikely that, after everything they had been through, they would both have died during the couple of seconds after he last spoke.
I would have preferred a few more seconds of ending rather than this very abrupt one. But still enjoyed the movie.
agree 100% with these observations.
The only question mark for me would be – he no longer had jacket or gloves on so hyperthermia would set in very quickly indeed. Potentially he did pass out – and given he had a bleeding wound and his blood pressure would therefore be very low – chances are after an exertion such as shoving the woman up to the top to see the helicopter – his heart and body gave in to death.
That said – it was only a minute that passed (if the timing was real rather that suggestive) – before the helicopter found a safe approach to circle down, so if he had passed out or even had heart failure – they could resuss him. She was snuggled in a sleeping bag until the last few minutes so in theory should have also survived.
While I like the tension I am not a fan of open ended movies. I like to know what happened or what’s the point of attaching to characters and sharing their experience if you don’t know the outcome in the end … it doesn’t leave you ‘hanging’ it just leaves you feeling a ‘WTF’ kinda’ lacking.
Loved the sparseness and the sheer hopelessness – that stare into nothingness when our heart mind and soul are flatlining for whatever reason. And I adore his inner will to keep going – despite at times resenting the woman (i.e. coughing in the cave and alerting bear / coughing in moments that he himself was at breaking point (you see him eye to the side and his face twitching impatiently when he hears that infernal cough despite him doing his best) yet despite what I spied as his aggravation – deep aggravation – (the kind you get when you’re sick of your marriage lol) he digs even deeper to a place of duty or humanity and finds the patience to tolerate and still look after her (when you try harder at the marriage rather than divorce lolol ).
There seemed to be suggestions of Karma in this movie like you said – the door flapping , the biggest fish, the flower , the fall, the ‘reciprocated hello’ at last just when he needed forgiveness for leaving her and also comfort and company…. and at the end when he states rather like a projection: ‘its ok, you are not alone’ repeating this a few times to comfort himself as well as her. That helping others is also helping yourself, that harming others is also harming yourself kinda Karma.
They both survived….the director and cameraman were there also to help them. And to make everyone realize…it was all recorded and really didn’t happen.
So everyone is ok and back home safely.
No, he sighed his last.
Remember the entire film is from his perspective. I believe he is dying, we saw and heard him breathe his last. Perhaps in the few seconds of consciousness left he dreams he hears a helicopter and it is only in his mind that it appears, a final sound and vision echoing his last words, “It’s okay, you’re not alone,” before he perishes—or its descent is the last thing he actually hears before perishing (I’ve heard hearing is the last sense to go); either way it’s all over for him suddenly, because he’s gone. But if it is the latter, she will still be saved…”She’s here!”