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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL | Last update 11.Jun.26

Kraken
Review by Rich Cline | 3/5

dir Pal Ole
prd John Einar Hagen, Einar Loftesnes
scr Vilde Eide, Kjersti Helen Rasmussen, Natasha Arthur
with Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset, Oyvind Brandtzaeg, Jenny Evensen, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, Jon Erik Myre, Hans Morten Hansen, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Filip Bargee Ramberg, Tor Christian Bleikli, Silje Breivik, Magnus Blondal Johannsson
release US/UK 12.Jun.26
26/Norway 1h30

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Opening like a classic disaster movie, this Norwegian thriller introduces a variety of people who have awkward histories and relationships. Director Pal Ole keeps things light and insinuating to start with, slickly setting up the mayhem to come. After a brief prologue, it's nearly an hour before the titular monster emerges from the depths, a tentacle revealing its potential size. And the ensuing rampage is entertainingly bonkers.

When salmon start misbehaving in Sognefjord, marine researcher Joanne (Khorami) goes to investigate. Her ex Erik (Silset) works there in an unsinkable floating lab, testing a sonic pest control system. But she can't identify the strange deep-water creature that attacks his equipment. Meanwhile, angry teen Maria (Evensen) and her friends (Hallert and Ramberg) are planning to disrupt the salmon farm owned by her dad Jostein (Brandtzaeg), who is wooing Japanese investors and of course ignoring safety precautions. And Joanne's salty boatman friend Olav (Hansen) thinks he saw this enormous beast once before, as a child.

Nearby, partying tourists zoom around on water-bikes, sometimes vanishing. Then a kayaking class is eaten. Whatever is grabbing them leaves bioluminescent goo behind, which of course looks almost as cool as the northern lights. Accompanied by freaky carnivorous parasites, this vast multi-tentacled kraken is both ravenous and furious, which offers a series of bonkers set-pieces as it reveals various unexpected skills.

There's not much an actor can do in this kind of movie, but flashes of personality boost even the smaller side characters. So it doesn't really matter that the various relational entanglements are abandoned once the carnage begins. Khorami at least offers a nicely intelligent presence, and she also gets to demonstrate some heroic action toughness. Her prickly interaction with Silset's chilly-wounded Erik offers several nice moments along the way, especially in the thick of the action. And Evensen has a strong presence as the stubborn young activist.

In genre style, the morally dodgy characters are in the most danger here, clearly destined for this behemoth's mouth. By contrast, Joanne has more engaging encounters that border on affection. The story itself feels rather cursory, and the ending abrupt. While there are great shots of the creature's scale, we never get that knockout punch. In the end, the story's sparky moral seems to be that it might be a good thing that only 5 percent of the ocean has been explored. And until we learn to be better listeners, we should probably leave it that way.

themes, language, violence 11.Jun.26

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See also: SHADOWS FILM FESTIVAL