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Godland Movie Review

Godland is a 2023 Icelandic drama film directed by Hlynur Palmason and starring Elliott Crosset Hove. It’s a slow, but incredibly well made and powerful drama.

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“It’s alright.

You’ll become part of the grass and the flowers.

It’s beautiful“

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At the end of the 19th century, a young Danish priest is sent to a remote part of Iceland. The deeper he travels into the unforgiving landscape, the more he loses touch with his own reality, his mission and his sense of duty. This movie deals with a lot. It depicts the foolishness of colonialism and in particular man’s silly quest to conquer nature, especially one that is as unforgiving as Iceland’s. It also has a lot to say about religion and how it impacts everyone’s lives, especially back then, and it is that examination of religion as well as our own mortality that was the highlight of this picture.

Elliott Crosset Hove is so good in the role of Lucas as the flawed protagonist of the movie. You can see his point of view, but also that of other characters, and the movie contrasted them all so well. Ragnar is a memorable character and the dynamic between the two is the crux of this story that ultimately ended with tragedy. Every performance here was excellent, including the female ones. Their characters did not get as much to do, but they still made a significant impact.

What was particularly impressive about Godland is its cinematography. It was shot in an unusual aspect ratio that fitted the narrative perfectly. In a story that also deals with the importance of photography, it was only fitting that the entire film looked like one. The harsh Icelandic landscapes were incredibly well utilized into the narrative and a lot of the movie’s imagery, especially that of the more brutal variety was striking. The directing from Palmason was also phenomenal.

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Godland is very similar to Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ in its exploration of religion and mortality, but ultimately I preferred the former as this movie was less engaging. The only issue here was its immensely slow pace and its staggering runtime, which prevented me from engaging with it more. It’s also an overly ambitious movie in terms of scope, character count and themes, but for the most part it managed to make use of most of its elements.