This is a conventional survival story, and thankfully, a really good one. *Arctic*, featuring Mads Mikkelsen, is exceptionally performed; he portrays a character who spends much of the film isolated—with only a minor appearance from María Thelma Smáradóttir—and largely silent, yet his acting remains powerful. It's skillfully constructed, successfully establishing the setting and narrating events in an engaging way…

It feels mostly like an opportunity to demonstrate how good Mads Mikkelsen is, though that’s something we already understood. The film itself doesn't offer much beyond that, really. My rating is ★★½ – it didn’t quite click with me, but I can see why others would enjoy it.