A historical fiction voyage based on Scandinavian folklore called The Northman. Sjón, an acclaimed Icelandic poet and novelist, collaborated with Robert Eggers on the upcoming film. The project is based on the Amleth legend, which inspired William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
The Northman is a fascinating thriller that will keep audiences on edge as Amleth risks all to avenge his father’s name and recapture his realm. It’s full of bloodlust, violent combat sequences, and the harsh reality of the Viking Age, plus Eggers’ love for entertaining horror.
Here are eleven films that, in terms of genre, time period, or plot, are similar to The Northman.
1. Valhalla Rising (2009)
Director- Nicolas Winding Refn
Around 1000 AD, the Scottish Highlands. One Eye, a mute Norse warrior of unrivalled power, exacts bloody revenge on those who imprisoned him after impaling the skull of his despised captor on a stake. One Eye and his unnamed teenage sidekick embark on a journey to Jerusalem while roaming free in the inhospitable land. Only to wind up in an unknown, barren new world riddled with danger instead of the Holy Land. But, beyond the lines of good and evil, One Eye is going to learn that the gods have already written his fate.
2. The Revenant (2015)
Director- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Hugh Glass is an experienced nineteenth-century tracker. His son, Hawk, conduct a hunting and trapping trip. In the undiscovered territory of the ferocious Arikara Indian tribe in the untamed and harsh wilderness of mid-winter snow-capped Missouri. A swift and devastating attack by a strong grizzly bear leaves a horribly mauled Glass on the verge of death. Double-crossed and abandoned by his men, as the party of trappers struggles to navigate back to the remote Fort Kiowa. Hugh’s ferocious drive to live is now the only thing that can keep him alive in one of the world’s most hostile places, giving him the strength to drag his unrecognisable carcass and take his retribution.
3. The 13th Warrior (1999)
Director- John McTiernan
Because he fell in love with the wrong woman, Arab Ahmad Ibn Fadlan is sent as a messenger to the Bulgars’ territory in AD 922. During his voyage, his caravan comes across a camp of Vikings. They spend the night at the camp, and the next day, a young child arrives to welcome the warriors home. The Wendol, creatures of the Mist, have begun invading their homeland, murdering and devouring anybody who stands in their way. The oracle commands that a thirteenth warrior join the Vikings, but he must not be a northerner. At first, Ahmad is wary of the odd men of the north. However, when he learns that the Wendol are real, he bravely battles alongside the Vikings in an impossible struggle against an unstoppable foe.
4. Braveheart (1995)
Director- Mel Gibson
Around the end of the 1200s, England is oppressed by King Edward “Longshanks”. He rules with an iron hand. Along with the noble and charismatic Scot of lowly family, William Wallace, organises a righteous crusade to overthrow him. The talented strategist and great warrior will collect thousands of enslaved Scotsmen thirsting to restore their independence in this valiant struggle for liberty. But the road to liberty is inevitably steeped in blood.
5. Gladiator (2000)
Director- Ridley Scott
To the dismay of his proud and disordered son, Commodus, the exhausted and dying emperor Marcus Aurelius appoints his loyal and triumphant general, Maximus Decimus Meridius, as his successor and guardian of Rome in 180 A.D. Rome. Instead, death and entrapment await Rome’s hero, as his enraged and blinded adversary orders his murder, only to end up as a slave to Proximo, a former gladiator. A new Maximo will rise as a gladiator from the wide deserts of North Africa, chopping and stabbing his way up to Mother Rome and the unwary dictator Commodus.
6. Conan The Barbarian (1982)
Director- John Milius
Conan, the orphaned young Cimmerian, is condemned to a life of slavery beyond the mists of time, having witnessed the terrible death of his blacksmith father and the killing of the entire village by the merciless followers of Thulsa Doom, the undead wicked wizard and servant of the serpent-god, Set. Conan, now an unstoppable mountain of muscle, develops into a man while chained to the eternal Wheel of Pain. After years of intense training as a furious gladiator, Conan, now an unstoppable mountain of muscle, regains his treasured freedom. Conan, however, partners up with Subotai, the Hyrkanian robber, and Valeria, the Queen of the Bandits, and starts on a perilous expedition to the fabled Mountain of Power and the impregnable Snake Cult Temple, with the vision of the blood-soaked raid seared in his consciousness.
7. The Eagle (2011)
Director- Kevin Macdonald
In 140 AD, twenty years after the Ninth Legion’s mysterious disappearance in the Scottish Highlands, young centurion Marcus Aquila returns from Rome to unravel the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the Ninth’s commander. Marcus travels forth through Hadrian’s Wall into the unexplored highlands of Caledonia, accompanied only by his British slave, to fight its ferocious tribes, make peace with his father’s memories, and rescue the lost legion’s golden insignia, the Eagle of the Ninth.
8. The Salvation (2014)
Director- Kristain Levring
The 1870s in the American West. Jon Jensen (Mads Mikkelsen), a European settler, had just welcomed his wife and son to the country when they are abducted and murdered. He seeks vengeance on the murderers, only to discover that one of them was Henry Delarue, the brother of a local land baron. Delarue has a ruthless grip over the surrounding community. He now seeks vengeance on the man who murdered his brother, and the locals are too afraid of him to oppose him. Jon is up against more than just the neighbourhood gangs; he’s up against the entire community.
9. The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002)
Director- Kevin Reynolds
The film ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ is based on the Alexander Dumas story of the same name. Fernand, Dantes’ best friend, falsely accuses him of treason because he wants Dantes’ girlfriend Mercedes for himself. Dantes spends 13 years on the island prison of Chateau d’If, plotting vengeance against those who betrayed him. He escapes the island with the help of another prisoner and goes on to become the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to seek retribution.
10. Beowulf (2007)
Director- Robert Zemeckis
The reign of King Hrothgar in Denmark 507 A.D. is threatened by the anguished demon Grendel, who attacks the locals during their festivals. The Danish King offers a bounty for the creature’s destruction, drawing Herot’s attention to the brave Geat warrior Beowulf, who desires glory. Beowulf overcomes the monster after a bloody struggle, and after receiving an old artefact as a reward, he discovers his men dead in the castle’s celebration saloon. He chases Grendel’s Mother into the lake where she resides when King Hrothgar informs that Grendel’s Mother was responsible for the bloodshed. Beowulf is seduced by the beast in the appearance of a charming lady who promises him that if he makes love to her and gives her his golden relic, he would become an invincible and wealthy King. Years later, King Beowulf is still dealing with the consequences of his transgression.
