Synopsis
Pioneer is set in the early '80s, at the beginning of the Norwegian Oil Boom. Enormous oil and gas deposits are discovered in the North Sea and the authorities aim to bring the oil ashore through a pipeline from depths of 500 meters. A professional diver, Petter, obsessed with reaching the bottom of the Norwegian Sea has the discipline, strength and courage to take on the world's most dangerous mission. But a sudden, tragic accident changes everything. Petter is sent on a perilous journey where he loses sight of who's pulling the strings. Gradually he realizes that he is in way over his head and that his life is at stake.
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Cast
- Aksel HenniePetter
- Wes BentleyMike
- Stephen LangJohn Ferris
- Stephanie SigmanMaria Salatzar
- Jonathan LaPagliaRonald
- Ane Dahl TorpPia
- Jørgen LanghelleLeif
- André EriksenKnut Jensen
- David A. JørgensenJørgen Heimland
- Eirik StubøIvar Jeger
Recommendations
- 80
Village Voice
The tension never lets up. - 80
Wall Street Journal
What’s admirable about Pioneer is its succession of interesting environments, both below and above the water’s surface, and the quietly appealing figure at the center of the international intrigue. - 75
Slant Magazine
Its greatest asset, and another trait it shares with Mann and Fincher's work, is a careful attention toward the particulars of its milieu in a way that doesn't call attention to those period touches. - 70
Los Angeles Times
As far as conspiracy thrillers go, Pioneer is as paranoid as they come. - 60
Total Film
Pioneer features underwater sequences so breathless they’ll thrill even James Cameron (director Erik Skjoldbjærg made the original Insomnia) but Petter’s truth-chasing is at times too frantic and melodramatic. - 60
Empire
Political chicanery and psychological mystery entwine with some stunning underwater sequences but don’t gel entirely satisfactorily. - 60
Time Out London
Pioneer delivers insidious, shadowy tension, while it’s genuinely surprising to find yourself so engrossed – story glitches notwithstanding – in key issues like compression sickness and divers’ gas supply. - 50
The New York Times
Mr. Skjoldbjaerg, who also tapped Norwegian history with his bank robbery re-enactment “Nokas,” doesn’t convey a creeping atmosphere of moral rot so much as an irksome glumness.
