Hot off creating a horror hit with his adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, writer/director André Øvredal returns with a new kind of Nordic, super-powered tale – Mortal.
This Norse tale starters with Eric (Nat Wolff), a loner on the run from the authorities after destroying a farm three years earlier, aimlessly trekking through the Norwegian wilderness — a wilderness that is filled with a vicious, unrelenting power. However, after Eric accidentally kills a young boy after trying to quell a brewing fight, he is captured by the police and ends up becoming close with a compassionate young psychologist, Christine (Iben Akerlie).
The two begin to see that Eric’s powers are connected to his emotions and Christine is able to keep him calm and help him gain control. However, with an American agent named Hathaway (Priyanka Bose) having mysterious motives and locals fearing Eric’s intense powers, Christine decides that it’s best for the two to escape. Now on the run from authorities, Eric and Christine attempt to discover the origins of Eric’s powers that could connect to Nordic mythology.
Mortal’s story structure has the same feel of a good rollercoaster as you can feel it film slowly climbing and building towards something big. The build-up of understanding Eric’s abilities is incredibly intriguing. The elemental aspects of his power help create some incredible visuals that are simple, but pretty unique. The way his hands look charred and even leave an imprint on the wooden table in the interrogation room is awesome. The way the film shows how his anger and frustration can have destructive consequences keeps you on edge as the environment takes major changes. The fact that he can simply turn a perfectly peaceful forest into a burned ruin and turn a normal cloudy day into a dark and stormy night in an instant speaks to how powerful he is. Øvredal does a great job showcasing this through a more grounded horror lens with the more realistic effects and creating gnarly burn scars on Eric that show how damaging his powers can be to him.
Wolff’s performance really grabs your attention. He plays up how Eric is not only beaten down because of the destruction he knows he can cause, but also his fears of what he can do. Eric knows his raw power could unleash death and destruction – even accidentally – so Eric would rather have people leave him alone as to prevent it. Wolff’s portrayal of the hurt that Eric is feeling and the way he’s haunted by his past actions instantly makes you feel for him. He views himself more as a monster than human and it’s one of the big things that make his emotional state so pivotal.
Akerlie is solid in making Christine a strong support system for Eric. Unfortunately, the film kind of forgets her troubled feelings about a patient of hers committing suicide and she ends up being just the “love interest” character. Luckily, Akerlie still gives a memorable performance to overcome these plot deficiencies and she shares strong chemistry with Wolff.
Moving back to the rollercoaster nature of the plot — the first act really feels like everything really got off on the right foot. The film builds its uphill climb in a way that’s more personal and grounded. However, instead of dipping downward at its peak into fast-paced action and giving a stronger story direction, the excitement and hype that’s been building doesn’t go anywhere – yet.
The second act sort of flattens out leaving things on too uneventful of a note and really dulls the viewing experience. There are some intriguing aspects thrown in — Eric getting a better handle on his abilities with the help of Christine and teasing some of the Norse mythology that plays a big role in the film’s finale – that will definitely keep your interest. There’s even this really rad sequence on a bridge that’s a strong showcase of the film’s great visuals and serves as a true turning point for Eric.
However, most of this long-winded second act just doesn’t hit the same marks as the first act and feels like a real drag. The personal victories just don’t land as strongly. The mysterious and thrilling tone gets lost in this conversation-heavy second act. The more authoritative characters come off weak as their motivations and views of Eric come off unclear. It was even a little tough to figure out what exactly this film was trying to be. It’s sort of got a mix of superhero storytelling, grounded horror visuals, and action-oriented thrills. A unique combination for sure, but it was tough to grasp at the identity Øvredal wanted for this film. It was worrisome that the film just might not be able to live up to the potential it showcases.
Thankfully, the worrying was for nothing as the final act really brings everything together and creates a modern Nordic origin story with a powerful punch. Honestly, with all of the lightening effects of his powers and build-up of Eric seeing Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life that connects all of the Nordic realms, I was almost certain in the second act that he was the second coming of Thor.
However, Øvredal maintains the more grounded view of Eric discovering his destiny and creates an authentic and unique take on the return of Nordic gods. As Eric and others discover old relics of Nordic mythology, there’s this feeling of an old order returning that feels really special and the rustic and simple look of Mjolnir is awesome. Even better is the crazy destructive ending the film has in store that presents the idea of there being more to explore in this world, which I would love to see Øvredal explore in a future film, that’s very akin to Brightburn.
While it’s dragging and dull second act breaks some of the great momentum that’s displayed in the other two acts, Mortal is another strong showing from Øvredal as he delivers a modern take on Nordic folklore that’s elevated through great visuals and a solid showing from Wolff.
