Boreas 1.5 - The Village

Boreas - The Village

Genre: Thriller / Drama

Director: Mark Romanek

Writer: Ann Morrow

Cast: Merritt Wever, Thomasin McKenzie, Lars Mikkelsen, Mikael Persbrandt, Ben McKenzie, Sunny Suljic, Ross O'Hennessy, Alistair Petrie, David Denman, Ola Rapace, Pilou Asbaek, Dennis Haysbert and Nina Hoss

Plot: Bernhard (Mikael Persbrandt) is back from his raid with Lars (Ross O’Hennessy) and Jimmy (Sunny Suljic) and Bernhard goes to rest in his quarters while Lars goes back to his place with Jimmy, making sure that he’s still following him. We see the scavangers’ village, built entirely by hand with stolen stuff. People warming themselves with bonfires and at the center of the village, a huge pit was dug and people throw all sorts of garbage in there so it never wears out. Lars and Jimmy pass in front of the weapon’s cache of the village, filled with capacities with guns of all sorts, knives and bows. Jimmy looks interested and he asks what they’re planning to do with all these weapons. Lars is surprised to see that Jimmy wants to make conversation and he says that what they will do is not of his business, he’s too young anyway. Lars goes back home to his two brothers, Gustav (Ola Rapace) and Gunnar (Pilou Asbaek) who tease him about Jimmy. They ask Lars why Bernhard thinks this kid is special and he says that’s not the case, he’s just a kid. They find it weird that he decided to keep the kid with him, rather than put him with the other kids. Back at his place, Bernhard looks at the horizon and he says to his wife, Nora (Nina Hoss) that it’s almost time, they’re ready.

It’s particularly windy that night and Alice (Merritt Wever) has a hard time walking in the thick snow and keeping a steady course. The blizzard is intense and she can barely see in front of her. She drags her feet in the snow, leaving a visible trail behind her, but she doesn’t mind. She just want to follow the trail of rocks before she can’t see it anymore. She replaces her scarf to cover her nose and carries on. 

Back the facility, Spencer (Ben McKenzie) is tied up to a chair with blood dripping down his mouth. Chris (David Denman) enters the room with Richard (Alistair Petrie) and he says that it looks like he won’t talk. Richard grabs Spencer by the chin and he tells him that their leader is there to speak to him now and he better open up, or he won’t like what’s coming for him. Erik (Lars Mikkelsen) enters the room and he asks Richard and Chris to leave him alone with Spencer. They ask if he’s sure and Erik points out that Spencer is beat up and tied to a chair, what’s the worst that can happen. Now that they’re alone, Erik paces around the room and he tells Spencer that he knows he’s smart guy and he has probably figured out what’s going here by now. Spencer doesn’t say a word and Erik gets closer to his face. He says he can talk, he’s not going to hurt him anymore. Spencer spits out blood and he says he believes Erik is forming some sort of army, but he doesn’t know. He also knows the outside world is not turning crazy as they want them to believe. He’s essentially in prison. Erik smiles and he tells Spencer that he knows his wife came to visit him earlier today. Spencer asks him how does is know about that and Erik says he knows everything about everyone here. He also knows about Emily and Jimmy. Spencer asks Erik what does he want from him and Erik says that if he doesn’t share what he knows, he may be able to arrange for him to meet with his family. Spencer says he doesn’t know if Erik will keep his end of the bargain and Erik smiles, saying he’ll just have to trust him, just like he will trust Spencer to do the right thing. Richard comes in and tells Erik that they have a problem and they leave in a hurry.

Bernhard runs in Lars’ home, waking up Jimmy, Gustav and Gunnar and he tells them that it’s time. They all dress up quickly while Bernhard tells them the plan. They will bring equipment and they will go stalk them and they need to find a flaw in their security. This is really important for what’s to come. Bernhard tells Jimmy that there’s no way he comes with them. He orders Lars to bring him with the other children and he does. 

Emily (Thomasin McKenzie) wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night. Her fire died and her eyes aren’t used to the obscurity. She can barely see ahead of her. The wind is blowing and under that sound, she can hear wolves howling. She tries to see if it’s nearby but can’t see anything. She hears another howl, coming from a different place, but she’s not sure if it’s a second wolf, or just the wind messing with the sounds. She digs in the ground for her rifle and crawls in the snow. She stops for an instant as she sees a pair of yellow in front of her. She slowly gets back on her knees and tries to back off, but she hears another wolf behind her. She looks to her left and she sees another one, same thing on her right. She moves slowly, carefully, but the wolves are following her. She grabs her gun and aims at a wolf and thinks about shooting it, but her attention is directed towards something coming from the sky. A spotlight lights the forest and blinds her as a helicopter flies in the sky above her. The wolves are scared away and Emily sighs in relief. She starts running back towards her house, perhaps she’ll be safer there and Alice will be back by now, hopefully. Inside the helicopter is a man (Dennis Haysbert) who looks down at the country. 

Alice’s feet are dragging heavily in the snow, tired of her journey. She sees fires on the horizon. She followed the trail all the way back to where it ended and she finds herself in the village. She wanders around, wondering where the hell she is. She’s caught from behind by a woman, Nora, who tells her that she can’t be seen around here, women aren’t allowed in this part of the village. She says she’ll bring her back with the children. 

The helicopter is seen landing at the facility, as Erik and Richard are waiting for their guests next to the helipad.