First-time feature director Joe Penna and his cowriter and editor Ryan Morrison skillfully exploit genre conventions, but suspense arises mostly from what fresh hells they devise for the hero to conquer, for conquer he must.

| Mar 25, 2020

Brazilian director Joe Penna, a former viral YouTube star, seems to relish the chance to stretch out and slow down, training the focus of his almost John Carpenter-esque feature debut (shot in gorgeous Icelandic locations) on small acts of process.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 14, 2019

It's an austere approach, but Brazilian-born Joe Penna, directing his first film after making a splash with his videos on YouTube, is to be commended for the rigorousness with which he is operating.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 15, 2019

[Mikkelsen] brings a level of intense physicality that is coupled with a level of emotive sensitivity that's superb.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 15, 2019

Arctic, a chilly and straightforward story of survival.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 14, 2019

Mikkelsen gives a strong performance, of course. He has to carry the movie on his shoulders, but that's probably why he did it.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 13, 2019

This film makes for a compelling hour and a half; you know where it's going, but you never quite believe it'll actually get there.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 11, 2019

Though the journey is well executed and the tension sustained, the obstacles are so familiar to the genre - inclement weather, tricky rock formations, grumpy bears - they can feel ordinary.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 8, 2019

The actor offers an incredibly committed and determined performance, but by the film's end, you wish he'd be able to get back to doing what he does best: eating.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 8, 2019

Arctic is a one-man showcase for the acting that we know Mads Mikkelsen is capable of. The film's power comes from his performance.

| Feb 8, 2019

It would be easier to count the words spoken in Joe Penna's survival thriller Arctic than the number of beats your heart skips while watching it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 7, 2019

"Arctic" is a film for all seasons.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 6, 2019

[N]ot once, not even for a moment, do we lose interest in Mikkelsen, or stop caring about what happens to him, or cease to believe him.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 6, 2019

Arctic tells this story of self-reliance and survival with such austerity and absolute integrity that the results are breathtaking, even in the moments where the movie seems to amble forward at a glacial pace.

| Feb 1, 2019

The movie really takes your mind off your own troubles. I liked it a lot.

| Feb 1, 2019

"Arctic" is a lesson in lessness, coolly observed and warmly felt.

| Feb 1, 2019

Arctic lacks what makes for the best movies of its ilk: it does not inspire much imagination concerning what our hero might do first if he does get back home.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 1, 2019

A fine reminder of how cinematic language can and should transcend the spoken word... a meticulous portrait of survival and human determination.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 1, 2019

The simple yet intense scenario makes Arctic a taut, cohesive exercise for Penna and editor and co-writer Ryan Morrison. It's also a fine showcase for Mikkelsen, playing a man who's resourceful but no more heroic than he needs to be.

| Jan 31, 2019

Though it's not anything new in terms of dramatic representation, in its solidly visceral execution - stressing a belief in filmmaking's basic tools of storytelling that's almost refreshing - it earns its place among the genre's stalwarts.

| Jan 31, 2019