The unsavory millionaire Sverre Hartkorn invites seven of his closest enemies to the remote (and possibly haunted) Blåkamhytta to take part in a genuine Easter mystery. The guests have the task of solving a murder, namely their host’s, and whoever manages to solve the riddle at 21:00 on Easter Eve wins five million Norwegian kroner.
This is a story that the vast majority of Norwegians already know. One they may have read on the side of a milk carton during the month of March, heard Ane Dahl Torp read aloud on the radio, or looked at a slightly faded VHS cassette they have lying in a dusty corner of the cabin.
It doesn’t really matter if the story was written by Agatha Christie a hundred years ago, was first broadcast on the BBC, or if the action doesn’t take place in a Norwegian cabin during the Easter holidays once: Norwegians recognize Easter crime when they see it.
Dead men go skiing is based on the book of the same name by author Knut Nærum (who also makes a small cameo in the film as one of the detectives), and right from the start there is no doubt what kind of film we have in store.
“In Dovregubbens hall” intensifies, and we meet the failed writer Kjell Nilsen (played by Trim Balaj) as he runs panicked and bloody through a sunny, glittering mountain landscape, with an unknown perpetrator with a chainsaw hot on his heels.
Fortunately, we don’t have to wonder for too long how it went with poor Kjell before we are questioned by the police and start the two-hour long story that is needed to explain everything that has happened.
In short: a “millionaire playboy” (Nikis Theophilakis) who is more like a parody of Exit wants Kjell to write the book about his life…but will also invite you to a real life murder mystery at the cabin…where he will die himself..? I think?
Unfortunately, the film struggles quite a bit with pacing, and the slightly too long playing time does not always help to explain or include everything that it obviously wants to do.
There are a bit too many different characters for us to get to know them properly, or to understand how they work as pieces in the big game. A little too many plot twists for them to have a real effect. A little too much hokey humor to get people to do much more than pull a slightly dejected smiley face.
And that dance element on the train, they could have saved that.
But if there is one thing the film certainly does not lack, it is visible enthusiasm from the filmmakers. It is clear that this is a real passion project from two young directors with great love for the content material, and not least several acting performances that are worth mentioning:
We have a leading man who is so dreamy in an old Hollywood way that it is impossible not to give up rooting for him throughout the film.
We have one of the Norwegian veterans with us, namely Per Christian Ellefsen and a hoarse version of his well-known and beloved narration voice.
Last, but by no means least, we have a shooting star in Eivind Sander in the role of the #MeToo-accused cokehead/BarneTV host Per Terje, and all his perfectly delivered one-liners (høhø). (“BED TIME, BIATCH!”)
Despite the film’s weaknesses, there is still enough here to make it worth a look, especially for fans of Dead Snow, The Hateful Eight or the Easter crime genre as a whole.