Review: Svin

Set in the beautiful fjords of Western Norway, Svin (meaning “pigs”) mixes hate, corruption and gore with… journalism.

Anyone who has seen the soft news programme Norge Rundt on NRK (a show that has been airing every week since the mid 70s) will know what kind of “news” our report duo is tired of making. Having been ordered by their boss to make edgier news, they try to investigate the dissappearance of two tourists. But suddenly they see themselves dissappearing, if they don’t take action.

Made as part of the horror anthology Filmgrøss x 4, Svin tells its story effectively and with great chemistry between the actors. It’s easy to create a feeling of unease and tension when you deal with the “unknown” such as corrupt local rednecks in remote fjords, but here the tension is almost tangible and the outcome could go both ways. In the short playing time, 24 minutes, there’s no room for getting to know the characters enough to really care for them, but they contrast so much to the wacko locals that we feel attached to them anyway. A little daylight gore is added for shock value, and works quite well even in these torture porn days, and this makes the movie as complete as one can expect for a mainstream production.

Svin is possibly the best film in the anthology.

Directed by Geir Henning Hopland.

Norway, 2009.

Rated 8 of 10.