''Northern Comfort'' is a 2023 comedy film directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson in his English language debut. Co-written by the director with Halldór Laxness Halldórsson and Tobias Munthe, the film stars

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall (born 27 February 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''. Spall performed in '' ...

and

Lydia Leonard Lydia Leonard (born 5 December 1981) is a British stage, film and television actress, best known for her roles in the television series '' Bring Up the Bodies'', '' Ten Percent'' and ''The Crown''. Early life and education Leonard was born in ...

. It had its world premiere at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

in March 2023.

Synopsis

A group of people, all suffering of fear of flying, are attending a course meant to deal with this fear. The final step of the course involves going on a "test" flight and they are left stranded in Iceland after a turbulent flight there (possibly also because of a partial engine failure on their airplane). The return flight has initially nine hours delay, so they are sent to stay in a luxurious hotel, with its own spa. With a massive storm approaching, which might cancel all flights out of Iceland, the course-takers are each trying their best to deal with their own demons.

Cast

as Edward *

as Sarah *

Ella Rumpf Ella Rumpf (born 4 February 1995) is a Swiss actress, best known for her role as Alexia in the 2016 horror drama film '' Raw'', which won the Sutherland Trophy at the 2016 BFI London Film Festival. Her other notable roles include, critical acclaim ...

as Coco * Sverrir Gudnason as Alphons *

Simon Manyonda Simon Manyonda (born 1986) is a British actor. Early life Manyonda was born in Lambeth, London, the eldest son of a GP of medicine and a gynaecologist and obstetrician. He is of South African and Zimbabwean descent. Manyonda is the elder bro ...

as Charles *

Björn Hlynur Haraldsson Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (born 8 December 1974) is an Icelandic actor and director. Björn was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, and graduated from the Icelandic Arts Academy in 2001. He co-founded the theatre company Vesturport the same year. In spri ...

as Dries *

Rob Delaney Rob Delaney (born January 19, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and activist. He was the co-star and co-writer of the TV show ''Catastrophe'', and has appeared in comedy films such as ''Deadpool 2'' (2018) and ''Tom & Jerry'' (2021). ...

as Ralph *Emun Elliot as Tom *

Gina Bramhill Gina Bramhill (born 30 July 1986) is a British actress. Background Gina Bramhill was born in Eastoft, where she grew up on a farm, and was educated at South Axholme Academy and John Leggott College. As a child, she appeared in several scho ...

Production

Sigurdsson told

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...

that he was inspired to write the film about participants on a fear of flying course after he “heard about these courses because there was someone close to me that had this problem. I found it quite fascinating and wanted to use it as a vehicle or metaphor to make a film kind of an existential comedy about big themes, like fear and death and life”. Sigurdsson wrote the screenplay with Halldor Laxness Halldorsson and Tobias Munthe. Producers are Grimar Jonsson via Netop Films, with Mike Goodridge of Good Chaos and Sol Bondy and Fred Burle of One Two Films as co-producers. Principal photography on the production started in February 2022. Filming locations included

Mývatn () is a shallow lake situated in an area of active volcanism in the north of Iceland, not far from Krafla volcano. It has a high amount of biological activity. The lake and the surrounding wetlands provides a habitat for a number of waterbirds, e ...

, Reykjavik, the UK and France. Charades handled world sales with

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...

taking UK free TV rights, and Scanbox having pre-bought Nordic rights.

Release

The film had its premiere at the

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

on March 12, 2023. The film will be available on Scanbox in Scandinavia, Weltkino in Germany and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

in the UK.

Reception

Alissa Simon in

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

wrote that “Sigurðsson shows that he has the chops to work internationally should he choose to”, and praised cinematographer Niels Thastum's use of “tight framing to up the claustrophobia quotient of the film’s many enclosed spaces” that “should look fine on screens both big and small”, adding that composer Daníel Bjarnson's “peppy score captures the characters’ tension and fears”.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Comfort Films shot in Iceland 2023 films Films by Icelandic directors English-language Icelandic films