To paraphrase the immortal words of Russ Hanneman, The Northman f*cks. It’s a rapturously received Viking film from the director of The Witch and The Lighthouse starring Hollywood bad boy Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Björk that features a naked sword fight on a volcano. There’s a lot to be excited for there.
The historical epic follows a Viking prince, played by Skarsgård, “on his quest to avenge his father’s murder.” This apparently involves setting straw-covered homes on fire, wearing a bear’s head as a hat, and getting absolutely shredded. “Alexander Skarsgård looks like an absolute beast,” actor Ralph Ineson said about his The Northman co-star. “[There’s] a scene where he beats this guy in a battle, bends down, and rips his throat out with his teeth, screams to the gods and he’s got his shirt off, and you think, my god that’s not a bodybuilder doing a scene, that’s like a proper serious actor!”
As for the naked volcano fight, director Robert Eggers called it a must have. “When I first thought, ‘I want to make a Viking movie,’ I knew three things,” he said. “I knew it needs to take place mostly in Iceland, it needs to have a revenge story, and it needs to have a naked sword fight on a volcano.” There’s no reason every movie can’t have a naked sword fight on a volcano. Yes, even Paddington 3. Winner takes all (the marmalade).
The Northman, which also stars Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, and Willem Dafoe, opens on April 22.