David Farnor | On 05, Aug 2014

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg
Cast: Aksel Hennie, Wes Bentley
Certificate: TBC
Watch Pioneer online in the UK: BBC iPlayer / TalkTalk TV / Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / Curzon Home Cinema / Sky Store

The director of the original Insomnia, which was remade by Christopher Nolan, delivers another tense thriller with Pioneer. The film tells the true story of a deep-sea diving conspiracy during the Norwegian oil boom. Doesn’t sound like a nailbiter? It certainly gets its fair share of nibbles.

Aksel Hennie – last seen in the fantastic Headhunters (now on Netflix UK) – plays Petter, a diver who blacks out during a test drive, killing his friend in the process. Did he mean to? What caused his lack of consciousness?

Petter probes into the murky world of corporations and cannisters of oxygen – was someone behind his black-out? At the helm, Erik Skjoldbjærg uncovers the twists and turns with slick visuals and a smooth pace, while a glaring turn from Wes Bentley adds a globalised sense of threat to proceedings.

Hennie, though, is the star, his beard and bewildered truth-seeking keeping you hooked. For all of Hennie’s hairy charisma, though, the script – co-written by Erik with fellow Insomnia scribe Nikolaj Frobenius, plus others – suffers slightly from too many villains. The problem may be dictated by historical facts (Skjoldbjærg nails the muddiness of reality vs Hollywood thrillers) but by the halfway mark it becomes unclear who exactly Petter should be trying to pin down.

Still, Pioneer’s presentation means its pulses along at a gripping pace. Throbbing under the surface at all times, a superb score by French group Air keeps this underwater mystery firmly pressurised. It will come as no surprise, then, that the Insomnia director’s latest Nordic tale is getting the US remake treatment too. George Clooney and Grant Heslov confirmed they have bought the rights this month. The pair have always had a good eye for an engaging story. Pioneer proves that is still the case.

Pioneer is available on BBC iPlayer until 2nd September 2019.

 

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