Pioneer

The familiar Nordic noir formula takes an interesting turn in this conspiracy drama, rooted in real events of the late 70s and early 80s. Lucrative oil deposits are found in Norwegian waters, leading to an uneasy collaboration on a transatlantic pipeline with a brash and possibly even sinister US oil company (represented by a few slightly jarring and not especially convincing Hollywood faces). This atmospheric thriller finds experienced diver Petter (Aksel Hennie) trying to find out the truth behind the death of his brother while testing the Americans' experimental underwater breathing equipment. The deep-sea scenes are exciting and urgent, bringing a real sense of peril, but the film flounders a little on land, where the story becomes distractingly convoluted. Nevertheless, Headhunters star Hennie is at his vulnerable best as the haunted Petter, and it falls to him to sell the film's often claustrophobic sense of paranoia. Sadly, the payoff isn't quite as epic as the dramatic and digressive build-up would suggest.