Mortal (film)

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Mortal
Mortal (film) poster.jpg
Film poster
NorwegianTorden
Directed byAndré Øvredal
Screenplay by
  • André Øvredal
  • Norman Lesperance
  • Geoff Bussetil
Story byAndré Øvredal
Produced by
  • John Einar
  • Hagen Ben Pugh
  • Rory Aitken
  • Brian Kavanaugh-Jones
Starring
CinematographyRoman Osin
Edited byPatrick Laarsgard
Music byMarcus Paus
Production
companies
  • Nordsik Film Production 4
  • Automatik Entertainment
  • Umedia
  • Zefyr Media Fund
  • Eldorado Film
Distributed bySaban Films
Release date
  • 28 February 2020 (2020-02-28)
Running time
104 minutes[1][2]
CountryNorway
Languages
  • English
  • Norwegian
Budget
  • €6.1 million[3]
  • (≃$7.4 million)
Box office$126,068[1]

Mortal (Norwegian: Torden) is a 2020 English-language Norwegian fantasy action film co-written and directed by André Øvredal. The film is inspired by Norse mythology, and stars Nat Wolff. The film was released on February 28, 2020 in Norway and is distributed by Saban Films. It is supported by a grant from the Government of Norway. The film's dialogue is in English and Norwegian and most of the actors are Norwegian, with the exception of Wolff.[4][5][6][3] The film's original music by Marcus Paus was nominated for the Amanda Award and was the Norwegian nominee for the Nordic Film Music Days – HARPA Award.[7]

Plot[]

Somewhere in the Norwegian wilderness Eric (Nat Wolff) awakes from a nightmare that causes the trees outside his tent to burn to cinders.

He finds that his leg has terrible burns so he heads into town where he breaks into a clinic for bandages. After treating his wounds in a gas station bathroom, he begins walking down the road, presumably back to his campsite. While walking down the road, a group of teens stops to harass Eric. One of the boys, Ole, begins pushing him around. Eric warns him, saying "if you touch me, you will burn." The boy grabs Eric by the collar, then collapses dead. Eric is later picked up at a bus stop by local police.

Christine (Iben Arkelie), a young psychologist, is asked by the local police to speak with Eric, where she learns he is an American-Norwegian who is also a suspect in an unsolved fire that took the lives of five people three years ago. Since the fire, Eric has been backpacking looking for family. She convinces him to sit at the table and confirms he has many generations of Norwegian ancestry. Christine decides to have his handcuffs removed for comfort and trust, Christine also confirms that everyone in the fire were relatives of Eric. Eric admits to killing his relatives and Ole, and as he speaks Christine's hair starts to become statically charged and Eric pulls water up from her glass. He becomes agitated and his powers unleash, which causes the building to start electrical fires; Christine determines his emotions control his powers and quickly counsels him on how to focus to control his power.

The U.S. Embassy arrives to take Eric to America, but he refuses to speak to anyone other than Christine and demands they sedate him to fly in a helicopter. The sedative quickly wears off and mid-flight he starts to panic from being tied up. A thunderstorm causes the helicopter to crash into the sea, where Eric realizes that he can breathe in the water and burns his restraints away. He is able to save one American agent, Hathaway, and drags her to shore.

Eric finds Christine and she takes him to her friend's cabin, where Eric explains that the fire was caused by him bursting into flames. He finally rests and Christine notices the plants are growing rapidly around him. Back at the hospital the American agent confirms with local police that he controls weather.

Christine decides they need to head to the farm. After crashing, a trucker gives them a ride until they reach Hardanger Bridge[8] where the police have set up a roadblock. In the middle of the bridge Eric submits and Christine is captured, but he draws upon the lightning, losing control. Christine coaches Eric to control his emotions and Eric uses the lightning to create a fence until he collapses and the storm subsides. The sheriff comes to their aid and rushes them both to the hospital. On the radio, the group hears social media is claiming he is the Norse god, Thor. At the hospital Eric's powers cause a malfunction of equipment and a boy goes into cardiac arrest. Eric revives the boy, healing him completely.

The sheriff explains after Ragnarök Thor's children built a farm which they believe to be the farm Eric's family is from. At the farm Eric is brought to his knees and unable to move while standing over a type of Vegvísir. The US officer sets up military around the farm ready to kill Eric. The team finds a cave under the farm filled with Norse runestones and a depiction of Yggdrasil. Eric is told it is time for him to go into the cave where he is drawn to a box of stone which contains Thor's glove Járngreipr, his belt Megingjörð, and his hammer Mjölnir. Eric adorns all of this equipment and causes another storm which is controlled by the hammer. As Christina approaches Eric, a sniper misses him and shoots her in the head causing Eric to summon lightning channeled through Mjölnir causing a massive number of casualties.

The film ends with a news cast stating there is a cult of Thor and Eric is now a terrorist.

Cast[]

  • Nat Wolff as Eric
  • Iben Arkelie as Christine
  • Per Frisch as Henrik
  • Per Egil Aske as Bjørn
  • Priyanka Bose as Hathaway

Soundtrack[]

The film's original music by Marcus Paus was nominated for the Amanda Award and as the Norwegian nominee for the Nordic Film Music Days – HARPA Award.[7] In a review of Paus' film score, Jonathan Broxton wrote that the work is "likely to be remembered as the breakthrough of a superb ‘new’ talent because if this is any indication of his work, he’s going to be massive very soon."[9] Daniel Schweiger described Mortal as "truly thunderstruck in announcing Paus’ symphonically avenging talent to a bigger playing field."[10]

Release[]

The film was theatrically released on February 28, 2020 in Norway[1] and November 6, 2020 in the United States.[citation needed] It was released on VOD by Lionsgate Home Entertainment on November 10, 2020.[11]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Mortal grossed $0 in North America and $126,068 worldwide,[1] against a production budget of about $7.4 million,[3] plus $2,316 with home video sales.[11]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 56% approval rating based on 34 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.7/10.[2] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 20 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[12]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Mortal (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mortal (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Keslassy, Elsa (January 29, 2019). "TrustNordisk Boards Fantasy-Adventure Film 'Mortal' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  4. ^ "– Utrolig at regjeringen kutter i filmstøtten, mens norske filmer anerkjennes over hele verden". www.dagsavisen.no.
  5. ^ Bergesen, av Martin (May 21, 2017). ""Trolljegeren"-regissør André Øvredal velger Norge foran Hollywood: – Det siste halvåret har jeg sagt til agentene mine at de ikke skal sende meg noe". Filter Film og TV.
  6. ^ "Nå blir det superheltfilm fra Vestlandet". www.bt.no.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Marcus Paus, Nordic Film Music Days
  8. ^ Lodge, Guy (November 6, 2020). "'Mortal' Review: A Norwegian Superhero Origin Story That's Less Norse, More Snores". Variety. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  9. ^ Broxton, Jonathan (January 22, 2021). "Mortal – Marcus Paus". Movie Music UK.
  10. ^ Schweiger, Daniel (March 1, 2021). "Mortal". Film Music Magazine.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Mortal (2020)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  12. ^ "Mortal (2020) Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved May 16, 2021.

External links[]

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