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Norway · 2017
2h 16m
Director Harald Zwart
Starring Thomas Gullestad, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Marie Blokhus, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen
Genre Drama, War
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After a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his eleven comrades dead, a Norwegian resistance fighter finds himself fleeing the Gestapo through the snowbound reaches of Scandinavia.
Harald Zwart’s thrilling The 12th Man, based on the true story of a Norwegian soldier who escaped the Nazis in World War II, is a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart but also an unexpectedly tender adventure that is as celebratory as it is tense.
A stirring adventure by any standard.
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
The sort of suspenseful, old-fashioned war movie that should particularly appealing to older viewers, provided they don't mind reading subtitles.
When you’ve hired human actors to do nothing but sneer, shout, and shoot guns, their onscreen function can get ever so slightly monotonous. This is not the movie’s only reliance on commonplaces but it’s the most prominent.
At 130 minutes, it isn't a short film, and its most intriguing elements, much like Baalsrud's rations, are in short supply.
Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray
The 12th Man is a polished crowd-pleaser, with a timeless message: Nazis suck.
Wartime survival epics are a rich genre unto themselves, and with The 12th Man, Norway has one that ranks among the very best.
The New York Times by Teo Bugbee
The reward of Mr. Zwart’s attention to the unique details of this historical account is that Jan’s path to safety frequently shocks, offering scenes of defiance that are unfamiliar or unexpected. In a familiar genre, The 12th Man preserves the element of surprise by understanding its terrain.
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