Valhalla Rising

Giving this something of the benefit of the doubt because I’d like to see it again knowing exactly what it is – more pensively Malickian than a brutal blood-bath, though the violence when it comes is harsh and brutal in line with Refn’s standard operating procedure; this is an unflinchingly disturbing and existentially complex portrait of a person (and people) not inclined to such activities, which also gives the film a weird, off-kilter dissonance (and I’m not entirely convinced its intentional). Mikkelson as usual proves an unusually visceral and compelling presence, even when playing a character almost entirely shut off.