Solstorm (2007) User Reviews

Weird, but Good Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 27 February 2009]

While in a party promoted by her chief and friend Måns Wenngren (Jakob Eklund), the fiscal attorney Rebecka Martinsson (Izabella Scorupco) receives a call from her former sister-in-law Sanna Strandgård (Maria Sundbom) telling that her brother and preacher Viktor (André Sjöberg) was murdered, stabbed and with severed hands, and she would be arrested. Rebecka heads to her hometown Kiruna and defends Sanna, but the evidences found by the police in her house prove her guilty and she is arrested. While investigating the crime, Rebecka is haunted by her past and faces the bigoted and fanatic religious dwellers that worship the local church, and is more convinced of the innocence of Sanna.

"Solstorm" is a weird, but good thriller with great performances, highlighting the gorgeous Izabella Scorupco, and awesome locations and cinematography in Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron), the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lappland province, that makes the viewer feel cold, no matter where he is. The non-linear screenplay is a little confused but never uses clichés; is very tense and uncomfortable and has an unexpected plot point in the end. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Solstorm (2007)

[SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain · 6/10 · 14 December 2011]

Engaging thriller that follows a strict path. Like so many thrillers, this film has a lot to sort out. There are relationships to develop, a character to move from point A to point B, and twists and turns. Scorupco returns to her home town after an old flame is found murdered and her best friend is the prime suspect. The film takes on religion as its main adversary. The victim was a preacher that made millions for the church. We see a close-knit community wanting to keep things simple. No one's to be trusted. The films succeeds in offering a finale that causes you to question the final actions of individual characters. The film has some gorgeous landscapes that it explores. The ice, the snow, the northern lights. All this is captured and creates a cold, isolated, but hypnotic atmosphere. It's a wonderful ending, but the journey there was so generic, it's impossible to rate it any higher.

Fairly mediocre

[fred-83 · 3/10 · 25 March 2008]

I was looking forward to seeing this, mostly because I have frequently visited Kiruna, where it was shot, the past few years. Technically there is a solid craftsmanship at work here, the photography is nice and so forth. Still, where it is lacking is in the scriptwriting and directing departments. The storytelling is unfocused, confused and sometimes just plain sloppy. Crucial information is conveyed by jarring use of voice-overs, where it just as easily could have been worked into the dialog. The backstory of the congregation and the charismatic leader is not properly setup and explained, and thus never becomes believable. I get a sense of post-production tinkering, along the lines of "oh, we should explain this or that because we forgot (could't afford) to shoot it...etc". The use of fast cross-cutting between dramatic events, flashbacks etc, is irritating and oftentimes deprives scenes of dramatic potential (possible spoiler: the incident with the dog, for example). Despite the best of intentions, this emerges as a fairly mediocre movie. I have not read the book on which it is based, and if this is anything to go by, I probably will not bother. Isabella does the best she can with the thin material, as well as most of the other actors. All in all, the scriptwriter and director is to blame here.

Well plotted, beautiful-looking mystery about small town outcast who returns to solve the mystery of who murdered the charismatic leader of a religious sect.

[BOUF · 7/10 · 11 January 2010]

A beautiful-looking film set in an icy Scandinavian backwater, where most of the men are evil, or weak, and most of the women are good (as in a lot of contemporary Swedish drama.) The lead character (Izabela Scorupco) is a beautiful young tax lawyer, determined to protect her best friend, who's been accused of murder. Scorupco faces the usual steely-eyed religious bigots, and has to untangle familiar murky secrets, but the plot has some good twists, which are parcelled out in a well paced and-structured way. Ms Scorupco is a bit one note, but she's competent. More interesting is the local detective..she's like someone you might meet in a small town, heavily pregnant, and quietly pragmatic. The solution to most of these murder mysteries seems to be always slightly depressing - destruction seems to be the only recourse of those who try to end their own or someone else's misery. You can't make fritatas without breaking eggs, I suppose.

A bad movie and a dreadful adaptation

[an1kan1k · 3/10 · 4 May 2014]

I have recently read Solstorm, the Asa Larsson book from which this film was derived, and was curious to see it adaptation : let's just say that, if you have read the book, you will probably be disappointed.

I didn't expect very high production values - and thus wasn't disappointed : most of the sets look cheap, the images and sounds weren't that great either and the cast doesn't redeem the whole.

The main character, Rebecka Martinsson, is played by an actress who just is too old for the role and whose range of acting is about 3 expressions-wide. Also, a special mention goes to the lifeless blonde slug playing the born- again-evangelic-freak victim : how on earth are we supposed to believe that this (supposedly) extraordinarily charismatic religious leader single-handedly brought a religious revival in Kiruna, drawing hordes of believers ?

In the end, what really irked me was that the story was so botched that the plot was full of holes, and so watered down that what remained was nowhere as intense as the book, especially the laughable finale (I mean, Curt shows up unexpected at the hunting retreat and Rebecka, who is basically on the run, just offers him some coffee ?)

In short, not a good film, no good acting and a pitiful scenario. I really hope that someday someone will realize that the Asa Larsson books are just begging to be adapted, "the killing" style, but please ! If it has to be the same team, I'd rather have them stay just books !!

Failed movie

[maximkong · 3/10 · 18 November 2012]

Great sceneries and great acting from many well-known actors could not save this film from a horrible plot flow that failed to connect well with each other.

The movie instead was successful at leaving many questions unanswered. And all the plot holes consequently turn the whole thing entirely 180 degrees back into 'nothing makes any sense at all' material. What more needed to say? This is probably the worst that can happen of a horror/dark noir/ crime thriller - based film. Whoever the director is should restudy on making a convincing movie, because the subject matter it is based on is a unique thing but the potential was not developed properly.

Please do the world justice by destroying this movie in a storm!

Seventy degrees north

[paul2001sw-1 · 8/10 · 21 December 2008]

Leif Lindbolm's film is a chilly Nordic thriller, filmed (with striking cinematography) in the far north of Sweden. A religious cult has taken hold of an insular town near the Arctic Circle; a former member, now a successful lawyer, returns home after the death of a priest, initially to help her sister, but she increasingly finds herself involved in the investigation. The atmosphere is tense and claustrophobic, and although (as with most thrillers) the plot is slightly contrived, a tone of realism pervades throughout. Having just seen the Swedish television adaptation of the 'Wallander' novels, I noticed its star, Krister Hendriksson, in a small role here - but whereas those stories are set in a very normal town in southern Sweden, the isolated nature of life in the far north gives 'Solstorm' a very distinctive feeling. Ultimately, it's hard to care too much about the natives, however, who keep their emotions very much to themselves (although the dead man was an interesting exception). But it's still a superior and haunting tale.

Epihany

[tiatia-1 · 9/10 · 19 November 2007]

Although I'm not a religious person myself I was very touched by his film. Yes, I am a stranger to the church and Jesus but I really think that the story proves what can happen when you join any kind of sect or closed community. There is both love and hate, weak minds and strong minds, leaders and followers. Very thought-provoking film this one. Especially the way it dealt with delicate matters like for example the way parents deal with their children and how loyalties between friends can get corrupted over time.

And the film music, not to mentions the hymns altogether add an extra dimension to the tight and sweaty drama that is actually taking place in the most northern part of Sweden. A really beautiful and cold place to be. I think the footage really capture this vast and beautiful landscape.

Amen!

Well worth watching!

[tupolev-2 · 8/10 · 18 January 2009]

There's no glamorous international jet setting, no big names or well known locations. The story line is slick, tense and well paced. The setting alone adds the drama without Hollywood special effects or unbelievable court room antics thrown in. It's a gripping tight thriller that will satisfy the moviegoer that appreciates a good storyline without being told what to think. I also enjoyed the cinema photography - it would have been hard to brings this aspect of the film to life when you are dealing with a predominately white subject but it passes muster and adds a real sense of emotion and isolation. Food for thought - the setting in which the story takes place could be anywhere, any town any country - just proving how alike the world can be. A great rainy afternoon film and one that you could watch again.

Good movie

[rox-ul · 9/10 · 14 April 2008]

This movie may lack somewhat in how it's performed, but it didn't bother me much. The high vote is for its plot, and now I want to read the book after seeing the movie. What the book may not have though, is the beautiful scenery of northern Sweden.

This is a movie about good and bad. If you think good and bad is difficult before you see the movie, you will hopefully think it is even more difficult after seeing it. If you on the other hand believe that things can only be either good or bad, you will probably not like this movie.

The religious stuff in the movie is pretty far out, and very clear on that point, so I don't think "ordinary" religious people will feel offended by its (mostly) negative portrayal.