Arctic Void, movie (2022)
image © For the Minke Productions
The Arctic Void (2022) is a sci-fi / contemporary fantasy mystery / drama film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Arctic Void, movie (2022)
Original title: Arctic Void, UK: Civil Twilight
Series: -
Setting: contemporary alternate / fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: sci-fi / contemporary fantasy mystery / drama, Features: science fiction, thriller, fantasy, contemporary fantasy, mystery
Release: 2022.01.14
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2022.02), first time
Rating: Bad (1 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Arctic Void, a sci-fi / contemporary fantasy mystery / drama movie from 2022. It's about a movie crew having a bad time while filming in the Arctic. The Arctic Void film is boring and pointless, I don't recommend it to anyone.
If you'd like to be surprised by the Arctic Void film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 0:38, because it gives away too much of the plot. It basically provides a summary of the film.
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Review (spoiler-free) - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
While looking to find some movie to spend my time with, I've found Arctic Void. The premise sounded interesting, so I gave it a go without watching the trailer.
The Arctic Void movie is about a movie crew having a bad time while filming in the Arctic.
The concept of the story is good. It could be interesting, but it doesn't go anywhere. The lack of conclusion makes the whole story pointless. The pacing is mostly consistent. There are no character arcs. There are no major logical problems.
The cinematography is good. We get really nice shots of the area. The animation of the animals were a little weak, but they were acceptable.
The characters are good, we get to know the main characters, and we even get some information about the supporting characters. The actors were good choices, they were all believable and natural.
The music (by Nick Donnelly) is okay.
The movie feels like a disappointment, as everything was good, except for the story.
Arctic Void is an boring sci-fi / contemporary fantasy mystery / drama, that I don't think anyone would enjoy.
My experience
I was not satisfied with Arctic Void (2022). I prefer stories with well-thought, logical plots, with a proper conclusion, and Arctic Void couldn't deliver that.
Rating: Bad (1 out of 3 points). Arctic Void looks good, but the story is weak and pointless.
Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points). Arctic Void is boring.
Rewatchability: Low. I don't think anyone would watch this twice.
Chance of watching it again: No.
Chance of watching a sequel: Maybe. But only after I've read recommendations from people I trust.
Arctic Void, movie (2022)
image © For the Minke Productions
Will you enjoy this?
If you like mystery or thriller movies, you might like Arctic Void.
If you prefer open-ended mysteries, you might like the movie.
If you prefer a resolution at the end of the story, you should skip Arctic Void.
If you like supernatural or fantasy movies, you might like Arctic Void.
If you hate subtitles, you don't have to worry, the foreign parts are not important enough to really understand.
If you prefer visuals over story, the movie has very nice natural documentary scenes about Svalbard. If you prefer more interesting scenes, this movie will disappoint you.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in fantasy mystery stories, it might be worth watching the Arctic Void movie for the plot points, but reading the plot summary should be enough.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals definitely look better if you watch it in cinema. But I don't think it would be worth watching it there.
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Arctic Void, movie (2022)
image © For the Minke Productions
Review with spoilers - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
I didn't like the Arctic Void movie.
By 50 minutes, I started to get bored, because not only nothing was happening, but there weren't even any hints that I could chew my mind on, while waiting for the action.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, in the way that in conveys everything that you'll get in the movie. It doesn't spoil the story, but it doesn't get the viewers excited.
The trailer
The trailer is basically a substitute for watching the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Arctic Void film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will ruin the movie for you.
Promise of the first scene
There are two guys who want to reach their boat in time. One of them is nervous, the other is not. I have no clue where will they take this, but I assume this was shown to establish their personalities.
Execution: The ending didn't have anything to do with the first scene. Although I didn't really feel that the first scene would have promised anything, it was just there to start the action.
Plot summary / Synopsis
Longyearbyen, Svalbard (Arctic Circle): Two guys from a film crew of a travel show arrive to the airport. There's a gloomy guy (Tim Griffin as Alan Meursault), and a jolly guy (Michael Weaver as Ray Marsh). A new camera guy (Justin Huen as Sean Tibbets) joins them. They get on their tourist ship (Langoysund), greeted by their guide (Rune Temte as Jim). On the ship, the jolly guy sees a bird with no eyes. The gloomy guy feels alone, away from his family. The two of them find the tape recorder of the camera guy, and they listen to it, but there's just some strange noise on it. They see a walrus killing a baby walrus.
After the lunch, one of the tourists start bleeding from his ears. Then suddenly, while the three movie crew members are occupied, everybody else disappears from the ship. The gloomy guy starts to have injuries appear on his body. The engine of the ship doesn't work.
They get in a motorboat, and try to reach a settlement they see on the shore. The settlement is empty, but they find a wounded deer there, then later a wounded polar bear. They find a place with the lamps on, and signs that people were there recently.
The gloomy guy guy is really sick. He checks the last video on one of the tourists cameras, and sees the camera guy doing something to them. The jolly guy confronts the camera guy, who confesses that he is here to document the effects of an experiment. They were exposed to a sonic weapon, that was supposed to disorient them, but he says that the people just evaporated. The tapes contain a counter vibration, to inoculate them against the sonic weapon, that's why they remained. The jolly guy puts the camera and the cellphone of the gloomy guy in a safety bag, and throws it into the sea.
The employers of the camera guy send a message that they'll arrive to get him in 30 minutes. The gloomy guy seems to die. When the camera guy goes out, he gets shot in the head. The phone starts ringing in the room where the jolly guy is.
We see that the safety bag is still floating in the sea.
The setting
The story is set on a contemporary Earth. As it's not clear, what happened, it's not easy to determine if it's an alternate world, or a fantasy setting.
Arctic Void, movie (2022)
image © For the Minke Productions
The experiment
The area was exposed to a sonic weapon. It was supposed to just disorient the people. The tapes contain a counter vibration, to inoculate them against the sonic weapon, probably that's why they remained.
Whether or not related to the experiment, something strange happened: the camera guy says that the people just evaporated. We see animals acting strangely, and having wounds. There are also wounds on the gloomy guy.
What really happened?
An organisation was preparing an illegal sonic weapon testing. They've sent the camera guy to the place to record the events. As the camera guy needed the money, he accepted the job. He also accepted the job from the film crew to join them.
Something happened. Possibilities:
- The organisation started their experiment, but something unexpected happened.
- Some other catastrophic event took place in the area.
- The scientists mention that cosmic radiation could cause strange things in this place. They also mention that it might scramble the brains, as it's also bio-electric.
People seemed to disappear from the ship:
- The camera guy said they just evaporated, but he could be lying.
- The camera guy could have dropped the bodies into the water, as we see that he was right there when it happened. He had plenty of time to do that before the others arrived.
- They might have been all just jumping into the water, as the audience didn't see it happen, and they had plenty of time to do that.
- If the cosmic radiation is the cause, it might have disoriented some of them enough to fall into the water, but probably not all of them.
The event also took out the engine of the ship, but it didn't affect the engine of the motorboat.
- If the cause was the cosmic radiation, then it work really work like that, the electro-magnetic pulse would fry devices that are switched on, but wouldn't hurt devices that were not being used at the time.
The three members of the film crew remained on the ship, who decided to go to a nearby settlement. There was nobody visible in the settlement, but there were signs of people being there recently:
- It was abandoned a long time ago, and the organisation sent there an operative to record what's happening to the film crew, before getting rid of them.
- It was inhabited up until recently,
- but the people disappeared, just like they did on the ship.
- but the operatives of the organisation evacuated the area to.
Then somebody killed the camera guy:
- It could have been an operative sent by the organisation to get rid of them.
- If the catastrophe also happened here, it could have been a surviving local, who thought they have something to do with the event.
- If the locals were evacuated by the organisation, one of the locals might have stayed at home, and it might have been his method of saying no to the evacuation request.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Arctic Void film are played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There's no single viewpoint character.
It has a truncated arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, and no resolution, it just ends.
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Things I liked
- The scenic shots were good.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't seen any other works of the writers (Darren Mann, Michael Weaver, William Paul Jones) or the director (Darren Mann). Based on this one, I'm not really interested in their further works.
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Arctic Void, movie (2022)
image © For the Minke Productions
Analysis of the story - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
I mostly liked the story up to the ending, but the lack of conclusion prevented me from enjoying Arctic Void.
Problematic elements
The title: I didn't feel "Arctic Void", or even "Civil Twilight" coming close to the message of this movie.
No conclusion: What have happened to the people on the ship? What will happen to the guy? We don't get any answers.
Unanswered questions
- What have happened?
- What have happened to the people of the settlement?
- What will happen to the guy?
- What will happen to the safety bag?
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Possibilities of improvement
- Speed up the scenes. Let the confession of the camera guy happen at 50 minutes.
- Add some end narration with any kind of conclusion. Because anything is better than nothing.
How it could have been better?
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Arctic Void, movie (2022)
image © For the Minke Productions
Uses for the film - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
Plot
- There's an experiment conducted on an area, without the people knowing.
- A man is sent to record the results of an experiment conducted on people.
- Something strange happens, and most people disappear, leaving a select few.
- Animals act strangely, they have strange wounds on them.
Scenes
- There are many nice scenes about the countryside that could be used to show Arctic places.
- The scenes on the tourist boat could be used to show an Arctic tourist boat.
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
- While the characters are not looking, suddenly everybody else disappears, leaving everything that was not on them.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Sudden catastrophe: After setup, but before the first turn, something happens to both sides. Roll a dice for every model (or every squad if you use too many models), on a roll of 1-3, they remain, on 4-6, they are gone.
Protective measures (easier for the players): If you come up with a cause for the catastrophe, there might be protection against it. Units that are protected don't have to roll. For example, if it's killer mosquitoes, than units wearing power armour don't have to worry about them. If the catastrophe is caused by one of the sides, the units belonging to their force might be totally, or at least partially protected. For example, they are only gone on an 5-6, or just on a 6. If the coming event is known before the game begins, the forces could spend parts of their army points on buying information about the event, or protective equipment. They might have time to prepare for the event - it's announced at the beginning of the turn, and the effect will happen at the end of the turn. Having command units, or specialist units might increase their chances of survival.
Example: Both sides know there are killer mosquitoes in the area. On side decides to spend +1 army point on every model, and equip them with bug repellent spray. The other side decides to try their luck, and if the model rolls a 6, the mosquito bite takes them out.
Example: It is known before the game begins that only animals are affected by the event. So, the players can choose robots, undead, animated plants in their army if they want to make sure that they survive. If the player takes a human or animal model, they have to roll.
Random timing (easier for the players): It doesn't happen in the first turn. At the beginning of every turn, roll a d6. On a 6, it happens.
Slow effect (easier for the players): If you roll a deadly result for the model, put a token on them to show this. They will be removed at the end of the turn, but they still have one turn to act before they vanish. Do something heroic with them.
Multiple events (harder for the players): The event happens more than once. It can happen every N turns, or you can use the Random timing option.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian.
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Similar stories - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
Movies
The Quiet Earth (1985): In a contemporary setting, people disappear. It's probably due to a scientific experiment gone wrong. The Quiet Earth is probably more interesting than Arctic Void.
Vanishing on 7th Street (2010): In a contemporary setting, the electric power is off, and people disappear. We don't get to know why. Vanishing on 7th Street is probably a worse movie than Arctic Void.
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Frequently asked questions - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
Will the Arctic Void movie be available with English audio dub?
Currently (in 2022.02.13) Arctic Void is not available with English audio dub, just English subtitles, as far as I know.
Is the Arctic Void film based on a book or comics?
No, Arctic Void is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Arctic Void film a remake or reboot?
No, the Arctic Void film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Arctic Void? Does Arctic Void have end credit scenes?
Yes, there's a post credit scene in Arctic Void, we see that the safety bag is still floating.
Where can I see Arctic Void? What is Arctic Void playing on? What streaming service is Arctic Void on? Where can I watch Arctic Void online? Is Arctic Void available on Netflix? Is Arctic Void on Amazon?
As of 2022.02.12, Arctic Void is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Hoopla, Microsoft Movies, Vudu, YouTube.
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Resources - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
Official
https://www.level33entertainment.com/
https://twitter.com/Level33_ent
https://www.facebook.com/Level33Entertainment
Information
IMDB: Arctic Void (2022): Database article.
Letterboxd: Arctic Void 2022: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Arctic Void 2022: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Arctic Void film (2022)
: Review video about the Arctic Void film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Arctic Void film (2022)
: Review article of the Arctic Void movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Arctic Void movie (2022)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Arctic Void.¤
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Buying the product - Arctic Void, movie (2022)
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Have you seen the Arctic Void film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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