„Áhorfendum er talið trú um að þeir séu um það bil að horfa á enn eina Nordic Noir myndina, en smám saman færist leikurinn yfir á svið hins líkamlega hryllings,“ segir Tristan Priimägi hjá Cineuropa um Undir halastjörnu Ara Alexanders.
Priimägi skrifar meðal annars:
Mihkel (Pääru Oja) accepts a dubious offer from his childhood friend Igor (Kaspar Velberg) to take an unknown suitcase to Tallinn from north-eastern Estonia in 2004. Upon his arrival, it becomes clear that Tallinn is only a way station, and Mihkel has to swallow the cargo (66 drug capsules) and take a flight to Reykjavik. He is met there by two small-time crooks, Jóhann (Atli Rafn Sigurðsson) and Bóbó (Tómas Lemarquis). All of their dreams of riches are put on hold, though, when it proves impossible to get the capsules out of Mihkel’s stomach.
These four misfits manage to play together so well as a quartet, complementing each other with their clearly distinguishable characters, that everyone else falls by the wayside, even in the case of such prominent actors as Ingvar E Sigurðsson as Jóhann’s father; the others just have less substantial parts to perform. The film is relentlessly bleak, and the stereotypical beautiful Icelandic scenery turns into a desolate and ruthless backdrop to petty crime, stressing the futility of it all.
Sjá nánar hér: Review: Mihkel – Cineuropa
