King of Devil's Island

(Norwegian with English sub-titles)

Said to be based on a true story, the setting is a boy's home on the Norwegian island of Bastoy in 1915. Two new inmates are delivered to this desolate island and it is immediately clear one of them is not cowered by what awaits him.

For the next two hours 'King of Devil's Island' delivers child brutality in a wintery setting under the supposedly compassionate, if firm, guidance of the Church. This and variations of it seems to me a familiar and recurring theme in Scandinavian movies.

For most of its length the movie feels a bit off the mark for me however the final fifteen minutes or so are easily the best and most impressive scenes. The acting is impressive but I have one minor quibble that the leading 'boy', Benjamin Helstad, does a good job but looks too old for his role.

The locations are suitably grim and chilling and I assumed would be typical of remote areas of Norway so I was somewhat surprised to learn afterwards that the film was made in Estonia.