Arctic: Mads Mikkelsen lends sizzling machismo to icy survival tale

Arctic is a 2018 Icelandic survival film directed by Joe Penna and written by Penna and Ryan Morrison. The film stars Mads Mikkelsen as a man stranded in the Arctic who misses his chance at rescue. The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and is set to be released in theatres on 1 February 2019. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84%, based on 43 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10. A man stranded in the Arctic waits for rescue.

When the helicopter that finds him crashes, the pilot is killed and the passenger severely injured. He then must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or to embark on a deadly trek for potential salvation. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84%, based on 43 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10.

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 1/2 stars, saying that the drama “largely subsists on the onscreen muscle of Mads Mikkelsen,” and that “once Arctic endeavors on its suicide mission it feels alarmingly straight-forward.” Critic Consensus: Arctic proves that a good survival thriller doesn’t need much in the way of dialogue to get by -- especially when Mads Mikkelsen is the one doing the surviving.