‘Kraken’ (2026)

'Kraken' follows marine biologist Johanne (Sara Khorami) as she is instructed to carry out specialised research in Sognefjord, Norway. Reuniting her with an old flame, Erik (Mikkel Bratt Silset) now runs a local salmon farm that employs state-of-the-art equipment used to deter salmon lice using sonic equipment previously developed by the two of them.

Gearing up for an investor meeting, fish farm owner Avaldsnes (Øyvind Brandtzæg) disregards safety restrictions and disables the sonic equipment blockers. With the vibrations now reaching deeper into the fjord, an ancient sea monster is agitated and resurfaces to eliminate the disturbance.

With a simple set-up, namely the opening sequence that showcases old footage of the Kraken surfacing decades ago and 2 daring jet-skiers being sucked up in present day, the feature wastes no time in opening the floor for a straightforward creature feature.

Teasing the monster as it glides just beneath the surface for the most part for the first two-thirds of the film, director Pål Øie works hard to develop tension and build anticipation for what we can only imagine lurks in the water. Understandably also keeping the budget under control, the feature makes great use of the Scandinavian landscape and zeroes in on environmental preservation themes long before the characters have an opportunity to bring it up.

Painting a picture of what we're dealing with, Johanne's arrival is accompanied by shots of other fjord denizens abandoning the water – crabs scurrying away and fish jumping onto dry land. Investigating, Johanne uncovers the sonic equipment misuse, but it is already too late. With the Kraken disturbed from its depths, a terrifying precursor to its arrival are oversized alien-looking lice. At times resembling horseshoe crabs, the oversized bloodsuckers terrorise everyone in the vicinity, delivering a handful of effective scares.

With an environmental preservation message at its core, Øie underscores the devastating impact human greed can have on nature. Illustrating that nature, Brandtzæg's Avaldsnes delivers an amazing, if not sometimes caricaturistic, depiction of an opportunistic businessman with little to no regard for the impact his actions have on the environment around him. Curiously, once the Kraken does choose to surface during the film’s culmination, the beast has a particularly refined palate when doling out punishment on its human victims as it conveniently manages to pick off some of the biggest culprits when it comes to crimes against the environment.

With a handful of prominent individuals, the cast of characters are largely defined by one or two traits each and suffer little to no personal development or growth. Not anticipating in-depth character studies from a monster movie, ‘Kraken’ still manages to underperform when it comes to its protagonists. Besides their occupation or 1 other characteristic, one should not approach this project expecting any groundbreaking performances.

Keeping the viewers in suspense, the first two-thirds tease the monster. Showing a shadow or tentacle here or there, the final showdown does reveal the beast, but the pacing of the feature somehow diminishes the reveal. With the fish farm being destroyed by mighty blasts from the enormous monster, darkened action sequences and choppy editing minimise the impact and lessen the sense of scale of the monster. Disappointing in its action, 'Kraken' fails to rouse sufficient excitement and ultimately struggles to entertain.

Delivering what it promises in its title, 'Kraken' slyly lets the beast lurk under the surface for the most part. Once the creature is revealed, its underwhelming unveiling functions to highlight and remind us of the feature’s other shortcomings, ultimately dragging the whole experience down a notch. Feeling longer than its 100-minute runtime, the film trudges on for quite some time and concludes on an unimpressive note.

Score: 1/4