The Reel Review
A marine biologist inspecting a salmon farm in Norway’s Sognefjord, the nation’s deepest fjord, discovers that the farm’s lice-destroying sonar equipment has released the kraken, a giant mythical sea creature. Sara Khorami (Troll 2) and Mikkel Bratt Silset (Headhunters, Vikingane) star in this Norwegian creature feature.
After a thrilling opening scene, this tentacled knockoff of the 1975 classic Jaws from director Pål Øie (The Tunnel, Dark Woods) settles into a very slow 45 minutes of character development and scientific exposition. When the kraken finally appears, the action picks up as its giant tentacles grope their way through the high-tech salmon farm seeking its human prey.
Filmed with the same high production standards as other Norwegian disaster films like The Wave and The Quake, Kraken does have a pretty convincing sea monster, as well as giant kraken parasites that look like giant horseshoe crabs. All of this helps offset the not quite as strong screenplay. The last half hour is fun, it is just a shame that it takes so long to get there.
REEL FACTS
• This Norwegian film isn’t to be confused with the similarly titled 2025 Russian film about sailors on a submarine who encounter a kraken.
• Lice are in fact an issue for salmon farms, which use several methods – deep nets to keep waters cool enough to ward off warm water-loving lice, thermal delousing, and cleaner fish to feed on the lice – to prevent infestations. The lice only affect the salmon’s skin – there is no consumption danger to humans.
• Known for its dramatic waterfalls, Viking history and towering glaciers, Sognefjord, Norway’s longest (128 miles) and deepest (more than 4200 feet) fjord, is known as the “King of the Fjords.”
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