Swedish director Adam Berg delivers his feature directorial debut to Netflix with an adaptation of Jerker Virdborg’s novel Svart krabba (Black Crab).
Black Crab brings viewers into a cold and desolate civil war on a European battlefront that has turned the area into an apocalyptic war zone that’s made visually chilling through Jonas Alarik’s cinematography. Given what’s going on in Ukraine and the fear of escalation, Black Crab is like an instant gut punch with how it visually depicts an apocalyptic, yet not too distant state of war. Every inch of this war-torn area feels gritty and the film taking place in a harsh winter environment makes its tone feel colder and on edge. Things only become more terrifyingly real as a group of soldiers embarks on a mission to deliver a mysterious device that could stop the war.
There are some horrors of war moments in Black Crab that are truly haunting, and Berg certainly never lets off the pressure as the group heads towards their destination. The opening is legitimately a civilian’s worst nightmare that sets a terrifying tone for the start of a civil war, and the atrocities they discover along their journey–including a mortifying mass grave–paint a grim and bleak picture of war. These visuals add strong stakes to their mission and amp up the intensity that Berg instills for most of the film. Black Crab never lets off the gas in its action and moments of rest for the group are often cut short through sudden conflict. Thus, viewers are constantly caught off guard and it makes for a very paranoid atmosphere.
The battles are especially interesting because of the snowy environment and it’s not just because of the brutal and bloody gunfighting. Due to how much ice has encased the area and it being the most direct route to the final destination, the group is actually forced to skate across frozen water for the most part and Berg makes it an incredibly tense experience. Aside from just the sheer fear of the ice cracking, there’s this eerie loneliness that comes from seeing the group skate across the ice in pure darkness with nothing else around them until its unwanted conflict eventually arrives. Berg excels at maintaining this intensity throughout, making Black Crab the kind of bleak war movie that delivers great thrills.
However, the same can’t always be said about Black Crab’s characters and story. Narratively, the film rides too much in ambiguity. There’s a lot of chit-chat between characters about who the “enemy” really is and the film doesn’t establish a history for the conflict, so it initially comes off as generic. This sense of ambiguity is likely meant to make it feel like it could happen anywhere, but it makes the early parts of meeting the characters and understanding the mission kind of confusing.
The characters themselves also struggle to leave an impact, as most of the characters outside of Edh (Noomi Rapace), don’t have much to them. Early on, Edh’s motivations are quickly established well with her going on what she initially considers a suicide mission to see her daughter again—something that persists well with her character throughout. Although the flashbacks she has that showcase her and her daughter surviving through the early parts of the war could’ve been utilized better for world-building, they do act as a good reminder of what Edh is fighting for. Rapace gives a determined performance that feels as cold and brutal at times as the environment and there are some great gray areas of her character’s morality that see her keeping her personal interests ahead of what the “right thing” to do is once the group discovers the real purpose of their mission.
Outside of Rapace’s Edh, though, none of the other characters manage to leave a lasting impression and aren’t utilized as effectively. There are some little tidbits you get for each member that make them stand out amongst each other, but it’s not enough to add some necessary personal stakes to stay invested into the group or new perspectives on this war. Even the story as a whole eventually treads into familiar territory in its final act, as Edh’s motivation takes a predictable hit and the suspense doesn’t feel as strong in the final moments of the film.
Black Crab shows Berg as a very capable action director with the strong thrills he provides in the central icy trek and war-torn atmosphere, but it’s only just enough to make the film a worthwhile or memorable watch.
