Under the Tree

A pitch black comedy which is carefully constructed and increases voltage carefully until it reaches the ending which packs a serious punch and might be too much/over the top for some viewers. It might not be laugh out loud funny, but has an unique feel to it. There are two story lines which feel a bit unconnected; as if the main one wasn't enough to fill 90 mins, but all in all this is another solid Icelandic film.

Permeated by that horrible, yet familiar tonal confusion -- does it want to be a drama or a comedy, or a tragi-comedy? Or does it simply just want to be tragic? There's some memorable moments, particularly towards the end, of Nordic pugnaciousness -- but without the right amount of humour, some of it comes across as sickening and uncomfortable.

Top badass moment? Seeing what can happen when you allow an untrained idiot to use a chainsaw. He was literally fighting to control it and not using a single bit of PPE. The felling cut was far too high off the ground and no initial bird’s mouth was put into the trunk either. And most tragically, the tree itself isn't even species-checked in the credits, although I believe it to be a sycamore. Also, Icelanders drink a lot of water. 1 (Stihl) chainsaw, 1 (fat) cat and no decapitations.

Some comic moments but the characters seem to be in so much unresolved pain that those comic moments seem out of place. Had it been a short film it might have worked better.

Offbeat in a predictable, often tiresome, Icelandic manner.