There's a fever dream quality to Robert Eggers' films.
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The visionary director, who previously brought us The Witch and The Lighthouse, knows how to use lighting, colour, sound and searing close-ups to make his audiences squirm in their chairs.
The discomfort continues with The Northman, a stunning, sprawling Viking epic.
Imposing Swede Alexander Skarsgard is thoroughly believable as revenge-fuelled Viking Amleth, seeming impossibly large and strong.
The story follows Amleth as he learns the man who killed his father (the king), then married his mother, has lost the kingdom and is living in Iceland as a sheep farmer.
Determined to follow through with his childhood promise to avenge his father, save his mother and kill the usurper, Amleth brands himself a slave and jumps on the slave ship headed to the sheep farm.
There he links up with Olga, a witchy, compelling fellow slave who is more cunning than she lets on.
The pair work together to bring down Fjolnir (Claes Bang) and free themselves not only of their slavery, but of their personal burdens.
The Northman is based on an old Danish tale about Amleth - the very same tale which is said to have inspired Shakepspeare's Hamlet, and you can see the similarities.
But despite this, there's never a moment in the 147 minute runtime where the story feels tired or told - it's utterly engaging and impossible to look away from.
The support cast is excellent - Ethan Hawke makes a mark early as the soon to be killed king, dripping with royal entitlement and desperation to prepare his son for the throne.
Our own Nicole Kidman is off-putting as the detached and adorned queen, concerned with appearances.
Then there's Willem Dafoe (back with Eggers after The Lighthouse) who is particularly memorable in a tiny role as the court jester (think 'poor Yorick'), and Icelandic singer Bjork as a raspy, whispering seer with a truly impressive headpiece.
The Northman is bloody, violent, intense, surreal and just beautiful to watch. It features so much amazing Nordic tradition and mythology that you'll want to do plenty of Googling afterwards.
The Northman should be watched on the big screen if you get the chance.
