The Oath

Everyone gets sympathy; no one gets excused.

Kormakur sets an icy tone from the beginning and sticks to it as his tense morality tale plays out.

As in many other Scandinavian thrillers, the style is cold and austere, the content ugly and misanthropic.

While the endgame remains blurry, Kormakur's grim, desolate thriller is a gripping dive into the shadows and more emotionally twisted than most sawed-off-shotgun-toting revenge films.

[An] assured suspense drama, which sports little of the blackly comedic streak usually associated with its maker ...

The speed of the film is exhilarating.

The film's ultimately conventional take on rationalized violence lacks teeth, relegating it to an already overflowing bin of cold-nosed morality tales that are indistinguishable from each other.

...a better-than-average thriller that benefits from its strong performances and Kormkur's solid direction.

Faults aside, it is still a return to form for Kormakur, as his recent foray into Hollywood certainly was met with a drop off in quality (Everest had about 5,000 characters climbing the mountain including Jake Gyllenhaal who literally had nothing to do)

Too aware of Hollywood references to offer something even a little original or personal. [Full Review in Spanish]