''Pioneer'' ( no, Pionér) is a 2013 Norwegian

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Erik Skjoldbjærg Erik Skjoldbjærg (born December 14, 1964) is a Norwegian director and writer best known for co-writing and directing the film ''Insomnia'' and the long awaited '' Narvik''. His film ''Pioneer'' was selected to be screened in the Special Present ...

. It was released on 30 August, followed by a screening in the Special Presentation section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films were ...

Plot

Petter is a commercial offshore diver in the North Sea during the 1980s. Norway is at the beginning of its program for oil harvesting. Petter and his brother Knut have key roles in laying the first petroleum pipe in the North Sea.Klaustrofobisk dypdykk
/ref> Norwegians and Americans are cooperating in diving deeper than anyone previously has done, to prepare for the installation of a gas pipeline. Petter experiences a tragic accident during a test dive. When he later tries to find out what really happened, he finds that the authorities and his colleagues are trying to cover up the matter.Pionér - Aksel Hennie til bunns i god oljethriller.
/ref>

Cast

Aksel Hennie Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Headhunters'' (2011), ''Hercules'' (2014), and '' The Martian'' (2015). Early life Hennie was born in the Lambert ...

as Petter Jensen *

Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...

as Mike *

Stephen Lang Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for roles in films including '' Manhunter'' (1986), '' Gettysburg'', '' Tombstone'' (both 1993), '' Gods and Generals'' (2003), '' Public Enemies'' (2009), ''Conan the Barbaria ...

as John Ferris *

Jonathan LaPaglia Jonathan LaPaglia (, ; born 31 August 1969) is an Australian actor and television personality. He has hosted Network 10's revival of ''Australian Survivor'' since 2016. As an actor, LaPaglia is known for his roles as Frank B. Parker in the tel ...

as Dr. Ronald McDermott *

Stephanie Sigman Stephanie Sigman is a Mexican-American actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 2011 Mexican crime drama film '' Miss Bala''. She has gone on to appear in '' Pioneer'' (2013), ''Spectre'' (2015), ''Going Under'' (2016), and '' Annabelle: Creati ...

as Maria Salazar *

Jørgen Langhelle Jørgen Langhelle (18 August 1965 – 3 August 2021) was a Norwegian actor of stage, screen and television. Biography Langhelle starred in the two successful Norwegian mini-series Deadline Torp (2005) and ''Torpedo'' (2007), as well as in mo ...

as Leif Lindberg *

Ane Dahl Torp Ane Dahl Torp (born 1 August 1975 in Bærum, Norway) is a Norwegian actress. Career Torp had her first film appearance in ''The Woman of My Life'' (2003). She has received Amanda Awards for her performances as Trude Eriksen in ''Svarte penger ...

as Pia * André Eriksen as Knut Jensen * Arne Lindtner Næss as Minister *

Eirik Stubø Eirik Aasan Stubø (born 16 June 1965 in Narvik, Norway) is a Norwegian stage producer and theatre director. He has been director of Rogaland Teater and Nationaltheatret in Norway, and Stockholms Stadsteater and the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Sw ...

as Ivar Jeger * Endre Hellestveit as Trond * Janne Heltberg as Trude Svendsen * Kent Albinsson as Jens Roger Hjort

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Pioneer'' boasts strong acting and a throwback conspiracy thriller vibe, but fails to take it far enough -- and is very slow about not getting there." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on reviews from 13 critics.

English-language remake

Smokehouse Pictures Smokehouse Pictures is an American film and television production company. The company was founded in 2006 by George Clooney and Grant Heslov after the shutdown of Section Eight Productions. Its name is taken from the Smoke House restaurant, loc ...

, run by producing partners

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

and

Grant Heslov Grant Heslov (born May 15, 1963) is an American actor and filmmaker known for his producing and writing collaborations with George Clooney, which have earned him four Oscar nominations. As a co-producer of ''Argo'' (2012), he received the Academ ...

, are working on an English-language remake of the film.

References

External links