The Wave | Film review - Scandinavian disaster movie will knock you off your feet

The Wave Kristoffer Joner Scandinavian disaster movie

Norwegian director Roar Uthaug proves more than a match for his Hollywood counterparts with this thrilling Scandinavian disaster movie.

After the addictive pleasures of Nordic noir, brace yourself for the heart-in-mouth thrills of the first Scandinavian disaster movie!

Norwegian director Roar Uthaug proves more than a match for his Hollywood counterparts with The Wave (Bølgen). He briskly and skilfully places all his pieces on the board in the opening minutes – including the idyllic, soon-to-be imperilled setting and the rugged hero who spots impending disaster before anyone else - and proceeds to hit all the beats of the disaster movie genre with aplomb.

The Wave Kristoffer Joner

"An 80ft tsunami"

Here's what's in store. Geologist Kristian Eikford (Kristoffer Joner) is due to leave his job at a mountain early warning centre to take up a well-paid post with an oil company in the city. And he’s on the brink of departing with his wife (Ane Dahl Torp) and kids when he detects signs that a giant rockfall is imminent. If it occurs, the residents of the tourist town of Geiranger, nestling in a valley at the tip of a spectacular fjord, will have 10 minutes to reach higher ground before their home is engulfed by an 80ft tsunami.

Prepare to set your stopwatch!

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Certificate 15. Runtime 105 mins. Director Roar Uthaug

The Wave plays in selected UK cinemas from 12 August.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu75D5tvxBA

Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.