Pioneer

2014 • 111 minutes

About this movie

In the early 1980s, enormous oil and gas deposits were discovered in the North Sea. A corporate battle ensues between competing Norwegian and American diving teams to win the lucrative contract to bring these natural resources ashore through a pipeline on the ocean bed, 500 metres below the surface. Norwegian diver Petter (Aksel Hennie i Headhunters) is obsessed with reaching the depths necessary to lay the pipeline and - along with his brother and an ambitious American diver (Wes Bentley i The Hunger Games) - has the discipline, strength and courage to take on this dangerous experiment. But a sudden, tragic accident changes everything. In trying to get to the truth behind the accident, Petter finds himself up against shadowy forces and an industrial machine that will go to any lengths to keep the truth under wraps, in order to secure the profits that will flow. With his life at stake, he must decide who he can trust and what he most believes in. Based on real events that are still unfolding even now, Pioneer is a claustrophobic, edge-of-the-seat conspiracy thriller featuring an international cast, from the producers of Headhunters and the director of Insomnia, Erik Skjoldbjaerg.

Ratings and reviews

A good story, involving and engrossing. I would warn people that it is almost entirely subtitled in English (cast are speaking Norwegian), which is not immediately clear from the description, but if you are comfortable with subtitled films I would recommend giving this a go. The underwater scenes are claustrophobic and utilitarian, very much as I suspect must have been the case at that point in time.

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