Thale is a Norwegian horror film drawing on the country’s folklore surrounding huldra creatures. The story centers around two crime scene cleaners who discover a concealed room containing Thale, a huldra appearing as a woman. The initial portion of the movie—roughly its first two-thirds—focuses on their efforts to understand her identity, nature, and confinement. This early section is quite good. The creation of the film’s world is engaging and rooted in folklore, with the central mystery steadily intensifying. Initially, Thale's presence is unknown, and once she is revealed in a striking scene, the process of piecing together the puzzle begins. Questions arise: Is Thale an abused child? A monster? And is someone searching for her? As these questions emerge, we learn more about the characters involved. Each of the three main figures has a story to tell and a past worth exploring, though we only get brief glimpses into their lives—with the notable exception of Thale’s experiences. While the film's atmosphere, world-building, and character development are strong in the first two-thirds, these elements seem to decline during the climax. It is revealed that individuals are actively pursuing Thale. They subdue the cleaners with gas while she retreats into a bathtub, equipped with a gas mask connected to an air supply. The narrative then jumps ahead; the two men are found outside, bound and blindfolded. A character intends to eliminate them after delivering a stereotypical villain’s speech, but is interrupted by an explosion. This blast destroys the building where Thale had been eliminating her pursuers. Following the explosion, a group of huldra appears and brutally tear apart the man, leaving the cleaners alive. The film concludes with all the existing issues resolved: Thale has reunited with her own kind, and the personal struggles of the other characters are conveniently resolved. While the initial two-thirds offer many positive elements, the final third undermines them considerably. The tone shifts from unsettling and mysterious to something more akin to an action movie, and the ending feels abrupt, offering no real resolution to the earlier buildup of tension and intrigue. It's worth watching, but don’t anticipate a truly remarkable experience. The deliberate pacing during the first forty-five minutes is very enjoyable, and while the later parts aren’t bad, they deviate significantly from what came before.

Source on TMDB