‘Fjord’ Review: Surviving the Clash

October 23, 2026

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Life During Fjord-Time (CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot)

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Lisa Carlehed, Henrikke Lund-Olsen, Vanessa Ceban, Jonathan Ciprian Breazu, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Markus Tønseth

Director: Cristian Mungiu

Running Time: 146 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: October 9, 2026 (Theaters)

Fjord is probably too serious a film for me to apply one of my silliest review strategies to, but it’s not like my mind and body were overwhelmed by the weightiness. Instead, it was pretty much a typical, pretty fun moviegoing excursion. After all, while there are plenty of bruises (both physical and emotional) in this story, there are also plenty of moments of characters doing their best to find joy. This is basically “I’ll Defend Your Rights to Believe What You Want to Believe, No Matter How Much I May Disagree With You: The Movie.” And there’s gotta be plenty of humanity on display if there’s anything worth defending.

Grade: Pining for the Fjord

This Is a Movie Review: Thelma

November 12, 2017

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CREDIT: The Orchard

After catching the whoosh of horror newness that is Joachim Trier’s Thelma, I find myself wondering how this flick might be franchise-able. After all, that’s the way it goes with horror. The sequels come and the formula gets repeated, twisted, maybe even subverted – a whole stew of mythology enhancement. Thelma at first glance might seem too icy, and you know, too Scandinavian, for follow-ups. But maybe Norwegians are also into the sequels. I’d love to see how a foreign sensibility matches up (or doesn’t) with a business-driven trend that often enough accidentally produces some creative results. But for now, we’ve got one lean, mean psychosexual machine.

I give Thelma 3 Disappearances out of 4 Personal Lightning Bolts.