Film Review: The Burning Sea

STUDIO: Magnolia | DIRECTOR: John Andreas Anderson | CAST: Kristine Kujath Thorp, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Anders Baasmo, Bjørn Floberg, Anneke von der Lippe
THEATRICAL/ON DEMAND RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25, 2022
SPECS: PG-13 | 104 min. | Foreign language action thriller

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie 1/2

Strong action sequences and solid performances keep the Norwegian disaster film The Burning Sea afloat.

Off the coast of Norway, a sizable earthquake causes an offshore oil platform to collapse into the sea and Sofia (Kristine Kujath Thorp, Ninjababy), an underwater robotics expert, is tasked to help find any survivors. During her mission she learns that the threat may not be over. Before the remaining rigs can be evacuated, disaster strikes and a massive fire erupts across the oil slicked ocean, threatening to engulf the remaining platform where Sofia’s boyfriend (Henrik Bjelland, Now it’s Dark) has been left stranded.

The powers that be feel a rescue mission is fool hearty but Sofia is a fool in love and sets off, against all odds to rescue her man. Luckily the chemistry and performances by Kujath Throp and Bjelland sell the narrative and adds some additional tension to an already fraught situation.

With The Burning Sea, cinematographer turned director John Andreas Andersen returns to familiar ground following his 2018 feature directorial debut The Quake. He seems to be right in his wheelhouse as the film boasts special effects and underwater footage that are seamless and extremely impressive. The script, co-written by Harald Rosenløw-Eeg (who penned both The Quake and the 2015 disaster flick The Wave) can be a bit predictable but wraps enough solid action sequences and human emotion around its environmental message to keep viewers engaged.