André Øvredal continues to impress. Director of Troll Hunter, and the hit Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,  Øvredal returns with a story that is less horror and more hero with his grounded-in-reality-fantasy MORTAL. Starring Nat Wolff as Eric, a mysterious drifter with Norwegian/American roots, we get a superhero adventure that is faithful to the hard truths of mortality while marrying the fantastic. The result is an adroit melange that slowly convinces the viewer that the surreal can happen.

As the film begins Eric is wandering, homeless in the forests on the outskirts of a small Norweigian town. It is only after his rural run-in with a group of hoodlums that the authorities capture him, question him, and want to know why and how one of the kids that chased him down is now dead. Enter Christine (Iben Akerlie) a psychiatrist who is called in to attempt to connect with Eric. Broken from a professional misstep, she is unsure of her next moves and Eric is no simple task. Upon pressing, lightbulbs burst, alarms go off, and things seem to be less than earthly. Eric is soon sedated and whisked away by government forces lead by Hathaway (Priyanka Bose) and the adventure begins. The goal? To get Eric to a small Norweigian village that he keeps having visions of before the wrong people seize him.

Truly, adventure is defined by the spectacular perils that our heroes face and the ingenious way that they scrape out of them. Øvredal along with co-writers Norman Lesperance and Geoff Bussetil take us on a wild ride that ultimately seems like the first act of a much bigger story. The goal for Eric and Christine is to discover who Eric actually is. The foes surrounding them only provide obstacles. That is just fine as these are characters that we connect with and are rooting for. (spoiler alert, there is closure that only results in a bigger challenge.)

Wolff excells as Eric, the profoundly frustrated and lost hero. Akerlie as Christine gives us a beautiful mix of authority that is confused as to how she should proceed. The chemistry that the two have, as one who is confused and one who is unsure, workers wonderfully for the film. Still it is Øvredal’s savvy approach that makes us instantly connect with and side with our heroes.

As for the production value they are on par with everything we have seen before. There is crisp,  cool lensing from Director of Photography Roman Osin and solid effects by Pål Morten Hverven and Mathias Sarre Ramstad. Again though, none of these tools get in the way of the story that Øvredal and company are trying to germinate and hopefully continue.

With MORTAL we get the beginnings of an adventure grounded in our reality and convincing enough to pull us into the incredible. On its own, MORTAL is an electrifying adventure. As the promise of a greater story, well, Can we have more, please?

8 out of 10