Far North

Far North is an eerie, somewhat dystopian fantasy starring Michelle Yeoh as Saiva, a determined survivor who has been on the run in a glacier-ridden, polar region of the Earth for years. Constantly staying a step ahead of a mysterious, conquering army ever since they destroyed her family and village, Saiva has raised a child, Anja (Michelle Krusiec), in a constant state of fear. Keeping apart from other human company, Anja, now a young woman, becomes interested in living a fuller life when a stranger, Loki (Sean Bean), turns up. A fugitive from those same, roaming men with guns, Loki initially seems interested in a flattered Saiva, but quickly turns his romantic attention to the emotionally-starved Anja, creating an unusual and uncomfortable tension in their cocoon-like world. A visually dazzling movie shot in a starkly beautiful corner of the planet, Far North uses the lonely exotica of its backdrop as a huge metaphor for the absence of human relationships and the madness such isolation engenders. The small cast is terrific, with Yeoh typically expressing volumes of passion behind the greatest restraint. Directed by Asif Kapadia, Far North looks and feels like a dream that might awake one in a cold sweat.