! SPOILER WARNING
THE VIEWING GUIDE
A deep dive into the must-see moments from the month’s big release
The Northman
WHEN HE FIRST spoke to Empire about the film in 2021, director and co-writer Robert Eggers promised us that The Northman would be “a true epic” — and he certainly delivered. Inspired by the old Icelandic sagas, it is a muddy, bloody, brutal tale of revenge that frequently bludgeons all hell out of you. Here, Eggers unpacks his ferocious beast of a movie.
A PSYCHEDELIC COMING-OF-AGE
A few minutes into The Northman, the magnificently titled King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) gifts his young son Amleth (Oscar Novak) a ritualistic journey into manhood, courtesy of royal jester Heimir (Willem Dafoe)… and the psychedelic plant henbane, which soon has them on all fours, barking like dogs, burping and farting. “That was a ritual that [Icelandic co-writer] Sjón invented, that we then retroactively infused with more research,” says Eggers. As for the various bodily squelches… it seemed rude not to. “Bruegel and Cervantes and Shakespeare, who Sjón and I can never reach to do anything but kiss the hem of their robes, they’re not afraid to use scatological humour, so why shouldn’t we?”