Against the Ice. In 1909, Denmark’s Alabama Expedition guided by Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen was trying to disprove the United States’ assertion to North-Eastern Greenland, a claim that was entrenched in the sentiment that Greenland was broken up into two separate pieces of land. Leaving their crew behind with the ship, Mikkelsen sled across the ice with his inexperienced crew member, Iver Iversen.
Exploring Greenland’s extensive landscape for a lost map, two men must fight to survive. Based on the true story of Denmark’s 1909 polar expedition.
- Country: Denmark, Iceland
- Genre: History, Drama, Adventure
- Released: 15 February 2022
- Production: RVK Studios, Ill Kippers
- Running Time: 1 hr 43 minutes
Cast
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen
- Joe Cole as Iver Iversen
- Charles Dance as Neergaard
- Heida Reed as Naja
Reception
As of this writing, 50 percent of the 8 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have been favorable, with an average rating of 7.0/10. Based on the reviews of four reviewers, Metacritic gave the movie a score of 43/100, indicating “mixed or mediocre reviews.”
While the actors’ performances and photography were lauded, the film’s duration, characters, narrative, soundtrack, and historical accuracy were widely panned by critics. According to David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter, “The most amazing thing about Against the Ice is that a real-life narrative of two guys at the mercy of the harsh elements, of starvation and disease, probable attack and growing lunacy, can be so weirdly starved of tension. Ed Potton of the Times gave Coster-Waldau high marks for his performance.
