The Northman ***
Writer/director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) brings his “grim, fire-lit, symbolism-filled period piece” vibe to a Viking adventure yarn, and the result is perhaps more mainstream appealing but a bit less unsettlingly distinctive. Collaborating with Icelandic writer Sjón (Lamb), Eggers tells the deeply Shakespearean tale of Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård), an exiled prince from a North Atlantic kingdom circa 895 A.D., who dedicates his life to avenging the murder of his father (Ethan Hawke) and the capture of his mother (Nicole Kidman) by his uncle, Fjolnir (Claes Bang). The result is predictably blood-soaked, including torture, disemboweling and a brutal field game that’s like a cross between rugby, Quidditch and MMA. Skarsgård makes for a striking protagonist, and Eggers’ production design team creates a fully-realized world built on cycles of violence and domination. If anything is missing, it’s more depth to the narrative beyond the sheer forward momentum of Amleth’s quest to fulfill his destiny, especially when it feels like Eggers could be on to something about how having a cause that gives us purpose can blind us to whether the cause is truly just. Still, if this is Eggers’ version of doing a mainstream action movie—complete with sword-fighting corpses, a mass freakout caused by psilocybin-spiked soup and Björk as a blind seer—there are far less visually inventive ways to spend two hours at the movies. Available April 22 in theaters. (R)

Polar Bear ***1/2
Over the 15 years of the Disneynature label of nature-based documentaries, there have often been features spoiled by getting too goofy, or too scattershot, or too blandly nice. This feels like one of the rare cases where they got almost everything right. Catherine Keener narrates from the point-of-view of a female polar bear, initially seen with her own cub, but eventually flashing back to the childhood experiences that would guide her life. That narration is very nearly perfect, capturing a mind in reflection on hard-earned wisdom, rather than trying to be immediately endearing to kids with forced perkiness. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson—the former the steward of nearly all the Disneynature features—make use of shots that aren’t merely extraordinary in getting up close and personal with animals, but feel like remarkable filmmaking choices, like a drone shot of our narrator bear and her cub as isolated specks in a mostly ice-free ocean, or a foreground-background juxtaposition that conveys remarkable grief. And Polar Bear isn’t timid about making its call to action—and the threat to these animals’ habitat—clear and convincing, without feeling like it’s a “message” pasted onto an otherwise unrelated narrative. This is a tale of survival not just during the time the film was shot, but on into the future, while remaining a thoroughly engrossing piece of storytelling. Available April 22 via Disney+. (PG)

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent ***
Co-writer/director Tom Gormican is a bit too infatuated with his meta-movie premise, and the result ends up more entertaining when its sweetly character-based than when it’s reveling in self-awareness. Nicolas Cage plays himself, sending up a stage in his career where he’s strapped for cash, interested in doing serious work, but forced to take quick paydays. One such gig involves a private audience with wealthy Spanish businessman Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal)—who, according to the CIA agents (Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz) who recruit Cage as a mole, is a dangerous crime boss. One of the central conceits positions Javi as a Cage super-fan who wants to create a movie script for him, and much of the movie’s action plays fairly obviously with how this movie’s events—including Cage’s strained relationship with his 16-year-old-daughter (Lily Mo Sheen) and his ex-wife (Sharon Horgan)—begin to inform the movie-within-the-movie. It’s still loads of fun most of the time, although surprisingly it’s not Cage-as-Cage who provides the biggest spark, even taking into account the leather-jacketed, digitally-de-aged version of himself who shows up as a kind of spirit guide. Instead, it’s Pascal’s enthusiastic performance that really drives this bro-mance, creating an earnest affection that makes Cage’s doubts about Javi’s evil-ness fully plausible. There are only so many gags about the Cage filmography that a screenplay can make before it feels like overload, but Cage and Pascal find the kind of on-screen chemistry that almost makes you wish for it to become a franchise. Available April 22 in theaters. (R)

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair ***
There’s an almost deliberate provocation in the way Jane Schoenbrun’s debut feature feints and dodges about what kind of genre its actually working in—and it wouldn’t be playing fair to reveal which way it ultimately goes. The set-up involves a teenager named Casey (Anna Cobb) taking “the World’s Fair Challenge,” involving participation in an online creepypasta horror narrative; as she begins to post videos about how she thinks she might be changing, a stranger identifying himself as JLB (Michael J. Rodgers) reaches out to Casey. Schoenbrun teases with the circumstances of Casey’s life—her parents are never seen as physical presences—as well as why JLB might investing himself so much in her fate. And while there are a few genuinely disturbing images sprinkled throughout the narrative—heightened by Alex G’s disturbing score—it’s never entirely clear whether there’s an actual supernatural component to World’s Fair. But it’s more unsettling as a portrait of how lonely, isolated people get sucked down Internet rabbit holes, seeking some way to connect with people, even if those ways seem disturbing or unhealthy. There’s scary stuff going on here, but the scariest thing might be Cobb’s committed performance of a kid who has no idea how becoming part of this world might be affecting her. Available April 22 on demand. (NR)