Director Peter Flinth’s (Eye of the Eagle) arctic adventure — starring and co-written by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) — is a harsh look at Greenland's complex history through the lens of the men who almost died trying to reach it. The supporting cast is anchored by fellow Game of Thrones alum Charles Dance and Peaky Blinders actor Joe Cole. The picture was filmed in Greenland and Iceland, making the location impeccably accurate. Based on the autobiography of Ejnar Mikkelsen, Against The Ice shows the grim reality of what it takes to cross an arctic tundra.
In the early 1900s, a Danish explorer, Mikkelsen, leads a small expedition to claim North-Eastern Greenland before The United States of America plants its flag. After several unsuccessful attempts that lead to crew members dying and getting injured, Captain Mikkelsen (Coster-Waldau) takes on the journey himself. But he needs a volunteer and no one in their right mind would accompany him — except for mechanic Ivr Iverson (Cole), who is as green as he is eager. The two embark on their journey and immediately lose half their tea, a lead dog, and two weeks' worth of rations. Almost a hundred days into their journey they finally come across a semblance of hope in the form of a note and map left by the explorers who came before them. Faced with the elements, deciding to eat questionable meat, and surviving polar bear attacks, the duo is forced to make a decision: move forward with the information and maps the old crew left behind or turn around and sled two hundred miles back to camp.
Alongside scribe Joe Derrick (The Second Home), Coster-Waldau has a perfect roadmap in Mikkelsen’s autobiography and the movie never deviates from its central goal — exploration and safety. Twenty minutes in, the film settles into its comfort zone as a two-hander survival story. The performances of Coster-Waldau and Cole bring a sense of realism to the situation and time period. The third act begins with Coster-Waldau entering a state of pure madness as they have been alone in the frozen wilderness for nearly three years. The actor does not overplay his loss of sanity, nor does the film stretch the limits of his hallucinations. When he thinks all hope is lost, a bright red hot air balloon crescendoes onto the polar ice cap, which begs the question as to whether help has arrived or if his mind is playing tricks on him.
Cole plays the eager, yet naïve mechanic who can’t wait to get a taste of the action, a decision he almost dies regretting. It is a refreshing change of pace for Cole, who plays an English bruiser on multiple shows airing simultaneously. However, the Gangs of London lead is purely empathetic in Against The Ice. The crew the audience meets in the film’s opening is not only jaded from their time away from home, but some of them have lost toes to frostbite. Cole’s presence brings a glass half full mentality that is necessary throughout. Later in the film, his willingness to understand keeps him and Coster-Waldau alive when tempers flare; and make no mistake because tempers do flare. In the only scene where Iverson breaks character, Cole explodes with that same Peaky Blinders energy viewers know and love. His casting is a great addition to the film.
Charles Dance is only in the few scenes that take place in government buildings instead of Greenland, but it's those jarring edits that make the viewer question whether this is worth it. Dance is hellbent on stopping the U.S. from claiming parts of Greenland. Paired with Coster-Waldau’s insistence that the mission must continue, juxtaposed with Cole’s survival instinct, the answer feels like it's not. At least, that's what Flinth and Coster-Waldau were seemingly aiming to highlight. Conquest in the name of human life is nothing new, but as technology and time move forward, a Danish government demanding territory while willing to leave those explorers stranded is objectively in the wrong.
Shooting on location is a great look for any picture, but with elements this aggressive, everyone involved in the production should be commended. It looks like Greenland because it is. The actors look cold because they are. The simplicity of the story is in perfect concert with the film's goals and does a smooth job of offering interesting themes of colonialization in a movie where Jamie Lannister fights a polar bear. Charles Dance and Joe Cole are integrated just as seamlessly and feel totally lived-in as characters, without unnecessary backstory and exposition. Against the Ice is a searing portrayal of the cost to explore in the early 20th century.
Against the Ice is now available to stream on Netflix. The film is 102 minutes long and rated TV-MA for animal harm, language and smoking.
