Director: Pål Øie
Screenplay: Vilde Eide, Kjersti Helen Rasmussen, Natasha Athur
Based on a story by: Pål Øie, Sjur Aarthun
Starring: Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, Jenny Evensen, Steinar Klouman Hallert
Country: Norway
Running Time: 94 min
Year: 2026
BBFC Certificate: 15
Marine biologist Johanna (Khorami) is called back to investigate strange goings-on at a salmon farm in Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. A new technology is being used to rid the salmon of pesky lice, but in turn it’s making the local wildlife act oddly, and might have awoken something hidden in the depths…
In an interview promoting this film director Pål Øie has expressed a hope that audiences have patience with the film, comparing his decision to delay the reveal of the creature in his creature feature to Spielberg’s concealment of the shark in Jaws, something that was famously an engineering necessity rather an intentional means of playing on audiences’ fear of the unknown and the unseen. Alas, Øie may have expected too much, as whilst I’m all for delayed gratification in cinema, the taste of the calamari needs to be worth the wait for the dish to arrive, and sadly that’s just not the case here.
So much of this film is spent watching the cast examine specimens, review footage and pore over monitors to try to determine just what is going on in the fjord, which is incredibly frustrating when the film is literally called Kraken. As audience members we are so many steps ahead of all the characters on screen, just by virtue of knowing the title of the film being watched. And when the eponymous cryptid eventually drifts into the film, its design is a little disappointing given all the build up. Effects-wise it looks fine, with the murky depths and misty surface of the fjord offering some good atmospheric blurring, but it’s nowhere near as revelatory as this kind of delayed reveal needs to be to still be worthwhile.
There’s some fun to be had with the tentacle action and a few economically shot kills – special shout-outs go to the unfortunate kayaker and cleaner – but there are also plenty of characters whose fates should absolutely have been witnessed, but who seem to escape the film ramification-free. The climactic outcome is also fairly unsatisfying, in a way that was at least surprising, but left me feeling hollow. At least the scenery looks stunning.
Kraken is available in the UK on digital download from 1st June 2026 through Signature Entertainment.