The Northman

It might be his most accessible film to date, but Robert Eggers doesn’t compromise his vision in The Northman, nor settle for the trappings of a mainstream crowd-pleaser.

Instead, this visually striking and brutally violent battle epic unspools a visceral exploration of primal instincts and toxic masculinity that’s set in the 10th century but still resonates today.

Deliberately paced, it rewards patience for moviegoers willing to indulge Eggers (The Lighthouse) his eccentricities while penetrating some obscure Norse mythology and thick nonspecific accents.

As a child, Amleth (Oscar Novak) grew up as the heir to Viking king Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke), only to see him murdered by a vengeful uncle, Fjolnir (Claes Bang), who desires both power and companionship in the form of Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman).

The traumatized prince flees the kingdom, returning years later with pent-up rage. Morphed into a fighter equally adept wielding a hatchet or sword, the grown-up Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) sneaks aboard a slave ship bound for the remote land where Fjolnir took his mother against her will.

After meeting a wayward young woman (Anja Taylor-Joy) who helps him gain access to his target and learning of a magical weapon to do the deed, Amleth’s plan is complicated by ulterior motives and conflicted loyalties.

Shot primarily in Iceland and Ireland, this immersive depiction of a stark medieval landscape is as picturesque as it is oppressive and foreboding.

Any film by Eggers requires audacious and fully committed performances by actors willing to challenge themselves physically and emotionally. In this case, an intensely expressive portrayal by Skarsgard (The Legend of Tarzan) provides invigorating texture as our resilient and determined warrior hero.

The stilted screenplay by Eggers and Icelandic author Sjon (Lamb) is a blood-soaked revenge saga with Shakespearean ambitions — and some supernatural dabbling — in which Amleth struggles to find his sense of humanity after being cursed as a self-proclaimed beast. The movie sometimes has the same problem.

Not for the squeamish, the film’s relentless savagery tends to create a numbing sense of emotional ambivalence. At its core, this rather straightforward tale of honor and betrayal is richly detailed without yielding much deeper historical context.

However, The Northman is a sturdy fantasy adventure rendered with style and sophistication, plus some clever twists preceding the inevitable showdown in the captivating final act. The resulting game of thrones is both exhausting and exhilarating.

Rated R, 136 minutes.