“Godland”

Movie Review

Hlynur Palmason is the writer and director of the drama movie Godland. Elliott Crosset Hove plays the role of Lucas, a Danish Lutheran priest sent to Iceland to oversee the construction of a new parish church. However, the harsh realities of rural life, including his inability to communicate with his Icelandic guide, Ragnar, because he only speaks Danish, test and challenge Lucas' faith. The movie is set in the late 19th century. The movie came out in 2022.

Danish priest Lucas is given the duty of going to Iceland and erecting a church in a Danish community in the late 19th century. He travels by boat with several Icelandic laborers, a translator (Hilmar Guojonsson), who serves as his only ally and point of contact with the others, and a camera to photograph the area. When they get there, they encounter Ragnar, their tour guide, who has a bad opinion of Danes.

The company comes upon a deep, swift-moving river while journeying, and despite Ragnar's cautions, Lucas demands they cross it. The translator drowns after falling off his horses along with a huge crucifix. They bury him in a small grave that the sea will soon dredge up. Grief-stricken Lucas withdraws and becomes grumpy, pleading with God to let him go back to Denmark. He almost dies after falling off his horse into a gully and passing out from weariness, but the group continues without him. Later, it is shown that the gang has reached the settlement, where a father called Carl and his daughters, Anna and Ida, are caring for Lucas while he recovers.

The church is constructed by the village as a whole, and special occasions are celebrated there. When a couple gets married, Lucas declines to officiate the event because the chapel is still under construction. When traditional wrestling matches are held during the wedding reception, Carl chooses to compete against Lucas. Lucas wins, and Carl is then forced to compete against Ragnar, where there is a noticeable tension.

While Lucas becomes friends with Ida and feels a pull toward Anna, his horse vanishes and is later discovered to have died. After the chapel is finished, Ragnar encounters Lucas outside the community and asks to have his picture taken before he departs, but Lucas declines and taunts him. In addition to speaking Danish, Ragnar admits that he has committed numerous bad deeds, including abandoning Lucas to die and butchering his horse. He implores Lucas to pray. Ragnar is killed when Lucas snaps and assaults him, smashing his head against the rocks. After leaving his camera behind, Lucas goes back to Anna, where they engage in sexual activity. Carl cautions Anna against continuing to be associated with Lucas since he thinks Lucas is a weak and foolish person.

Ragnar's dog repeatedly barks outside during Lucas' first service in the completed church. When he steps outside to stop it, he slips in the mud and gets his face and robes dirty. He gets scared by the dog, snatches one of Ida's horses, and runs away. Despite Anna's request that he not hurt Lucas, Carl pursues him. As Carl closes in on him, he unexpectedly stabs Lucas to death, telling him that everyone would think he merely fell off the horse. Later, Ida discovers Lucas' skeleton and sobs as she informs him that he will soon merge with nature.

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