The Northman

After his folk-horror debut The Witch and black-and-white two-hander The Lighthouse, director Robert Eggers excels on a grander scale with this Viking revenge saga. The premise is familiar, as it stems from the Scandinavian legend that inspired Hamlet: in the late tenth century, savage warrior prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) is hellbent on vengeance after fleeing his kingdom as a child, after his uncle (Claes Bang) murdered his father (Ethan Hawke) and kept his mother captive. What follows is a tremendous and transporting dive into Viking myth, with striking imagery, extraordinary attention to period detail and a distinguished cast. Skarsgård brings gravitas and a surprising sensitivity to the brutality, while Nicole Kidman (as his mother) and Anya Taylor-Joy (as his lover) offer equally complex portrayals. The film's extreme violence, ambiguous moral stance and delve into supernatural folklore might alienate certain viewers, but this ranks alongside other great revenge epics such as Gladiator in terms of sheer excitement and spectacle.