{{Short description|2022 film by Peter Flinth}} {{Use American English|date=February 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox film | name = Against the Ice | image = Against the Ice.jpeg | alt = | caption = Release poster | director = Peter Flinth | producer = Baltasar Kormákur | screenplay = {{Plainlist| * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau * Joe Derrick }} | based_on = {{Based on|''Two Against the Ice''|Ejnar Mikkelsen}} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau * Joe Cole * Charles Dance * Heida Reed }} | music = Volker Bertelmann | cinematography = Torben Forsberg | editing = Morten Højbjerg | studio = {{Plainlist| * RVK Studios * Ill Kippers Productions }} | distributor = Netflix | released = {{Film date|2022|02|15|Berlinale|2022|3|2|Netflix}} | runtime = 102 minutes | country = {{Plainlist| * Iceland * Denmark }} | language = English | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Against the Ice''''' is a 2022 historical survival film directed by Peter Flinth and written by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Joe Derrick, based on the true story recounted in ''Two Against the Ice'' by Ejnar Mikkelsen. It stars Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Charles Dance, and Heida Reed. The film was shot in Iceland and Greenland. ''Against the Ice'' premiered at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2022.<ref name="DHInterview" /> It was released on Netflix on March 2, 2022, and received mixed reviews from critics.
==Plot== In 1909, Danish explorer Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen organizes an expedition to Shannon Island, East Greenland, from which he makes treks to recover the records of the ill-fated Denmark expedition. His first attempt is unsuccessful and a crewman loses toes to frostbite in the process, but on the trek Mikkelsen discovers a dead Denmark expedition member with a log and a map showing the location of a cairn built by his expedition. The only volunteer to accompany Mikkelsen on his second attempt is an inexperienced engineer named Iver Iversen, while the rest of the crew stays behind.
Mikkelsen and Iversen lose two of their sled dogs in their first few days and gradually sacrifice the remaining dogs to provide food to the teams that remain. Later, they fight and kill a polar bear. After three months the explorers locate the cairn, which contains records that disprove the existence of the Peary Channel, thus showing that Greenland is a single island and that the United States has no claim in the Arctic. On their way back, Mikkelsen fears that they may not survive, so they build another cairn about 200 miles from Shannon Island in which they deposit the records from the Denmark expedition. Mikkelsen and Iversen finally return to Shannon Island to learn the rest of the crew have returned home, leaving them stranded. They are forced to spend two winters in a cabin with food and supplies while their crewmates struggle to mount a rescue mission.
During their long isolation, the two men return to the cairn they built and retrieve the records. Meanwhile, their cabin is visited by would-be rescuers who find no sign of them. Later Mikkelsen hallucinates that his lover Naja Holm is with him, while Iversen imagines meeting his grandfather. Mikkelsen nearly kills Iversen with a rifle and the two men come very close to losing their sanity before being rescued in 1912. Their evidence from the Denmark expedition leads to American recognition of Greenland as a single island belonging to Denmark. An epilogue reveals that Mikkelsen married Naja a year later, that Iversen never set foot in the Arctic again, and that the two men remained friends for life.
==Cast== * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ejnar Mikkelsen * Joe Cole as Iver P. Iversen * Charles Dance as Minister Niels Neergaard * Heida Reed as Naja Holm * Gísli Örn Garðarsson as Christian Herman Jørgensen * Sam Redford as Lt. Vilhelm Laub * Ed Speleers as Hans Peter Olsen (later Bessel) * Þorsteinn Bachmann as Georg Carl Amdrup * Diarmaid Murtagh as Georg Poulsen * Frankie Wilson as Carl Unger
==Production== [[File:Cast and crew of the movie Against the Ice-7341.jpg|thumb|alt=The cast and crew at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany.|The cast and crew at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival.]]
''Against the Ice'' was a co-production between RVK Studios and Ill Kippers. It was directed by Danish director Peter Flinth, who worked with producer Baltasar Kormákur and cinematographer Torben Forsberg to shoot the film on location in Iceland and Greenland whilst using minimal green screens. The film is based on the Danish book ''Two Against the Ice'' by Ejnar Mikkelsen. On January 19, 2021, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Charles Dance, and Heida Reed were confirmed to star.<ref name="Announcement">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/nikolaj-coster-waldau-joe-cole-starring-in-netflix-movie-against-the-ice-baltasar-kormakur-producing-1234675557/|title=Nikolaj Coster-Waldau & Joe Cole Starring In Netflix Movie ''Against The Ice'', Baltasar Kormákur Producing|date=January 19, 2021|first=Tom |last=Grater|website=Deadline Hollywood|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119153621/https://deadline.com/2021/01/nikolaj-coster-waldau-joe-cole-starring-in-netflix-movie-against-the-ice-baltasar-kormakur-producing-1234675557/|archive-date=January 19, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=January 19, 2021}}</ref> Flinth said he cast Cole as inexperienced crew member Iver Iversen due to the actor's unfamiliarity with Greenland. According to Coster-Waldau, the crew was once stranded on a glacier in Iceland during a storm. The actor suffered a concussion while filming the bear-fighting scene, which was shot using computer-generated imagery (CGI) and a heavyweight judo champion as a stuntman. Flinth had originally wanted to film the scene using a real polar bear.<ref name="DHInterview">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/against-the-ice-nikolaj-coster-waldau-joe-cole-director-peter-flinth-snowstorms-concussions-filming-survival-drama-berlin-1234932485/|title=''Against The Ice'' Stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole & Director Peter Flinth Talk Snowstorms & Concussions While Filming Survival Drama – Berlin|date=February 14, 2022|first=Tom|last=Grater|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=February 14, 2022}}</ref>
==Reception== ===Audience viewership=== The film was watched for 30.73 million hours in its first five days, placing second on Netflix's top ten.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://top10.netflix.com/films/2022-03-06|title=Top 10 Films (English): February 28 – March 6, 2022|website=Netflix|access-date=March 15, 2022}}</ref> From March 7 to March 13, the film was watched for 12.73 million hours, finishing third on the charts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://top10.netflix.com/films/2022-03-13|title=Top 10 Films (English): March 7 – March 13, 2022|website=Netflix|access-date=March 15, 2022}}</ref>
===Critical response=== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|57|6.1|35|''Against the Ice'' isn't the most original or exciting wilderness thriller, but viewers in search of man-versus-nature entertainment could easily do worse.|ref=yes|access-date=May 3, 2022}} {{MC film|49|14|ref=yes|access-date=March 15, 2022}}
Though the performances and cinematography received some praise, critics generally criticized the runtime, characters, dialogue, score, and historical accuracy. ''The Hollywood Reporter''{{'}}s David Rooney writes, "In the end, the most remarkable thing about ''Against the Ice'' is that a real-life story of two men at the mercy of the unforgiving elements, of hunger and illness, possible attack and encroaching madness, can be so curiously deprived of tension."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/against-the-ice-berlin-2022-1235093049/|title=Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Netflix's ''Against the Ice'': Film Review {{!}} Berlin 2022|date=February 15, 2022|first=David|last=Rooney|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/against-the-ice-review-1235175372/|title=''Against the Ice'' Review: A Good-Looking but Glacial Trudge Through a Snowbound True Story|date=February 15, 2022|first=Jessica|last=Kiang|website=Variety|access-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref> ''The Times''{{'}} Ed Potton praised Coster-Waldau's performance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/against-the-ice-review-hxk8zdx3d|url-access=limited|title=''Against the Ice'' review — ''Game of Thrones'' star shows his range in this arctic adventure|date=February 15, 2022|first=Ed|last=Potton|website=The Times|access-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Netflix title}} * {{IMDb title|13873302}}
{{Peter Flinth}}
Category:2022 films Category:2022 drama films Category:2022 English-language films Category:2020s historical drama films Category:2022 historical films Category:2020s survival films Category:Danish historical drama films Category:Drama films based on actual events Category:English-language Danish films Category:English-language Icelandic films Category:Netflix original films Category:Films based on non-fiction books Category:Films scored by Volker Bertelmann Category:Films directed by Peter Flinth Category:Films produced by Baltasar Kormákur Category:Films set in 1909 Category:Films set in 1912 Category:Films set in the Arctic Category:Films shot in Greenland Category:Films shot in Iceland Category:Icelandic drama films Category:English-language historical drama films Category:English-language adventure films Category:Films based on works by Ejnar Mikkelsen Category:2022 Danish films Category:2022 Icelandic films