Tunnelen (2019)

	Directed by: Pål Øie	INTERNATIONAL TITLE The Tunnel COUNTRY Norway GENRE Thriller/Disaster RUNNING TIME 105 minutes
	Produced by: John Einar Hagen Einar Loftesnes
	Written by: Kjersti Helen Rasmussen

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Stein	Thorbjørn Harr
Elise	Ylva Fuglerud
Ingrid	Lisa Carlehed	½
Ivar	Mikkel Bratt Silset	½
Kurt	Peter Førde
Rafa	Daniel Alexander Skadal
Christian	Per Egil Aske
Håkon	Tor Christian Bleikli
Gunnar	Jan Gunnar Røise
Laila	Ingrid Anne Yttri
Andrea	Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes
Tom	Sigurd Sele
Anatol	Igor Necemer
Randi	Marit Røste
Sara	Fanny Wear-Berg
David	Øystein Martinsen
Mia	Silje Breivik
Vegard	Eldar Skar
Egil	Kyrre Haugen Sydness
Haikeren	Henrik Holm

Review

The wave of Norwegian disaster movies continues with Tunnelen, directed by Pål Øie (Villmark, Skjult). As with most films in the subgenre, this is formulaic stuff, but Tunnelen uses the formula well and to its own advantage. After an inviting intro in which we meet the large and diverse cast of characters who will soon find themselves in or around the ominous tunnel of the title, Øie throws us into more than an hour of non-stop suspense. The film is well-paced and unapologetic, and the high tempo and brilliantly developed and filmed action scenes ensure it feels less contrived than its siblings Bølgen and Skjelvet, despite some obvious narrative flaws and unnecessary (albeit funny) characters, such as Jan Gunnar Røise's or Henrik Holm's. The latter's talent is completely wasted here, with the part probably having ended up on the cutting room floor. In leading roles, Thorbjørn Harr, Ylva Fuglerud and Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes all give heartfelt performances, elevating what could otherwise have come off as strictly a genre-movie to a dramatically valid and poignant film.