Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

What’s admirable about Pioneer is its succession of interesting environments, both below and above the water’s surface, and the quietly appealing figure at the center of the international intrigue.

Village Voice by Sam Weisberg

The tension never lets up.

Slant Magazine by Carson Lund

Its greatest asset, and another trait it shares with Mann and Fincher's work, is a careful attention toward the particulars of its milieu in a way that doesn't call attention to those period touches.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

As far as conspiracy thrillers go, Pioneer is as paranoid as they come.

RogerEbert.com by Glenn Kenny

Remember this name: Aksel Hennie. If Pioneer, a mixed bag of a conspiracy thriller, works at all, it largely does so because of him. Hennie, now into his second decade as an actor in Norwegian film (he’s also written and directed a feature) gives a spectacular performance as Petter.

Time Out London by Trevor Johnston

Pioneer delivers insidious, shadowy tension, while it’s genuinely surprising to find yourself so engrossed – story glitches notwithstanding – in key issues like compression sickness and divers’ gas supply.

Empire by Angie Errigo

Political chicanery and psychological mystery entwine with some stunning underwater sequences but don’t gel entirely satisfactorily.

Total Film by Jamie Graham

Pioneer features underwater sequences so breathless they’ll thrill even James Cameron (director Erik Skjoldbjærg made the original Insomnia) but Petter’s truth-chasing is at times too frantic and melodramatic.

The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold

Mr. Skjoldbjaerg, who also tapped Norwegian history with his bank robbery re-enactment “Nokas,” doesn’t convey a creeping atmosphere of moral rot so much as an irksome glumness.

San Francisco Chronicle by Walter Addiego

The movie isn’t really bad, just tepid, and it’s partly redeemed by a good lead performance.

The Dissolve by Mike D'Angelo

With no compelling characters in sight, and a director whose formal acumen begins and ends with forbidding locations (in this case, underwater), Pioneer has to lean on its drab story.

The Telegraph by Mike McCahill

The more tangled the plot becomes, the more hackneyed Skjoldbaerg’s tactics get.