Best Icelandic drama movies

In the wake of a nuclear war, a young woman survives on her own, fearing she may actually be the proverbial last woman on earth, until she discovers the most astonishing sight of her life: another human being. A distraught scientist, he’s nearly been driven mad by radiation exposure and his desperate search for others. A fragile, imperative strand of trust connects them. But when a stranger enters the valley, their precarious bond begins to unravel.

An Icelandic couple live with their herd of sheep on a beautiful but remote farm. When they discover a mysterious newborn on their land, they decide to keep it and raise it as their own. This unexpected development and the prospects of a new family brings them much joy before ultimately destroying them.

Halla declares a one-woman-war on the local aluminium industry. She is prepared to risk everything to protect the pristine Icelandic Highlands she loves… Until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.

Soon after the break of the pandemic and realizing that his clock is ticking, Kristofer gets the urge to embark on a journey to try to find out what really happened when his Japanese girlfriend mysteriously vanished without a trace from London fifty years earlier.

After an older lady hangs herself in a church, a new psychiatrist discovers she was obsessed with the disappearance of his eight-year-old son, who vanished three years earlier. Meanwhile, three city dwellers are restoring a house when they realize it is haunted.

A young girl in 1990s Iceland is caught between the life that took her brother and her own inability to strike out on her own. In her grief, she finds solace in metal and dreams of making her own music.

As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

When Baldvin and Inga's next door neighbours complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbours in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.

Paranoid computer programmer Simon wakes up to find a package in his room one day. Despite attempts at securing his apartment, the packages keep arriving. While cameras watch Simon's every move, he struggles to find the answers to the mysterious forces taking over his life.

In a remote Icelandic town, an off duty police chief begins to suspect a local man to have had an affair with his wife, who has recently died in a car accident. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones. A story of grief, revenge and unconditional love.

Based on an astonishing true incident that took place on the frigid seas off Iceland in 1984, The Deep fashions a modern-day everyman myth about the sole survivor of a shipwreck, whose superhuman will to survive made him both an inexplicable scientific phenomenon and a genuine national hero.

At the edge of Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, two women’s lives will intersect – for a brief moment – while trapped in circumstances unforeseen. Between a struggling Icelandic mother and an asylum seeker from Guinea-Bissau, a delicate bond will form as both strategize to get their lives back on track.

In the mid to late '90s, the Reykjavik crime and drug scene saw a drastic change from a relatively small and innocent world into a much more aggressive and violent one.. The film tells the story of this change through the fictional gang of pushers that took control of Iceland's underworld.

Thirty-year-old Hlynur still lives with his mother and spends his days drinking, watching porn and surfing the net while living off unemployment checks. A girl is interested in him, but he stands back from commitment. His mother's Spanish flamenco teacher, Lola, moves in with them for Christmas. On New Year's Eve, while his mother is away, Hlynur finds out Lola is a lesbian, but also ends up having sex with her. He soon finds out he and his mother are sharing more than a house. Eventually he must find out where he fits into the puzzle, and how to live life less selfishly.

When his daughter's criminal boyfriend becomes an increasing threat to the family, a father must take action to protect them.

17 year old Nói drifts through life on a remote fjord in Iceland. In winter, the fjord is cut off from the outside world, surrounded by ominous mountains and buried under a shroud of snow. Nói dreams of escaping from this white-walled prison with Íris, a city girl who works in a local gas station. But his clumsy attempts at escape spiral out of control.

A teenage boy, raised by a mother who considers herself psychic, takes a bullied kid into his group of violent misfits. As the group’s troubles escalate toward life-threatening situations, an inner voice awakens in the boy and, with the help of his mother and his new friend, he manages to find his own path.

Margit and her older sister Katla flee for safety after their mother is burned to death for witchcraft. Finding shelter with Johan and his resentful young son, Jonas, the sisters help form an impromptu family unit that’s soon strained by Katla’s burgeoning sorcery.

A murder opens up a bleak trail of long buried secrets and small town corruption for a worn out police detective and his squad.

Insurance investigator Abraham Holt travels to a tiny town in rural Minnesota to look into a particularly unusual insurance claim stemming from a horrific car accident. As Holt examines the scene of the wreck, it all seems a bit too perfect. And when he interviews Isold Mcbride and her shifty husband, Fred -- the impoverished beneficiaries of the massive, recently initiated life-insurance policy -- he begins to suspect that something is amiss.

A country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human. Love and death become interlaced and with terrible consequences. The fortunes of the people in the country through the horses' perception.

The story follows a 16-year-old Icelandic boy, Ari, who lives with his mother in Reykjavík. She has to leave the country for a new job, sending him back to the small town of his youth. There he finds his old friend, suddenly a young woman with a tricky romantic relationship; and his father has become a victim of the financial crisis.

Months after they broke up, Gunnar receives a strange phone call from his ex-boyfriend, Einar. He sounds distraught, like he's about to do something terrible to himself. Gunnar drives up to the secluded cabin where Einar is holed up and soon discovers that there's more going on than he imagined. As the two men come to terms with their broken relationship, some other person seems to be lurking outside the cabin, wanting to get in.

An unexpected first kiss causes Gabriel to feel the electrifying "jitters" of love and lust with the free-spirited Marcus; a perfect way to end a Summer studying abroad. Realizing he is gay, Gabriel returns home and is immediately scrutinized by his family and friends who notice he’s different. But as the school year launches with Gabriel distracted with parties and his friends’ own dramas, Marcus returns, reigniting the hot, thrilling emotions of one’s first crush. Jitters fires head-first into the topsy-turvy world of first love with an attractive cast and pulsating soundtrack, making it a smartly refreshing journey into the queer, teen experience.

Through 56 independent scenes, Echo draws a portrait, both biting and tender, of modern day Iceland during the often turbulent but also exciting time of the Christmas holidays.

A widowed farmer begins a new life on her own terms by fighting against corruption and injustice in her community.

The film shows a strong bond between two brothers that live in a remote fjord with their parents. We look into their world through the eyes of the younger brother and follow him on a journey that marks a turning point in the lives of the brothers.

Three tales of three people who have a lasting effect on one another. A young writer whose career is skyrocketing finds himself in a stormy marriage. He divorces his wife after the death of their daughter, shuts himself from the outside world and drinks himself to death over a twenty-year period.

Vikings pillage Ireland, seeking silver and slaves, slaying men and women in the process. A young boy is spared when a Viking takes pity on him instead of killing him. Twenty years later the boy returns to Iceland take his revenge.

Hannes is an old man who has grown apart from his children. Recently retired when his wife gets ill he tries to reconcile with them and to atone for his cold demeanor in the past.

When the light breaks on a long summer’s day in Iceland. From one sunset to another, Una, a young art student, encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty.

When 15-year-old Magnea meets Stella, everything changes. Stella's no-holds-barred lifestyle drags them both into a world of drugs, which brings serious consequences for each of them, and their relationship. Twelve years later their paths cross again, and a reckoning between them becomes unavoidable.

An investigation by Óðinn on decades old deaths at a juvenile treatment center, as he proceeds he suspects that the sinister secrets are connected to his ex-wife's mysterious suicide.

The star player of Icelands top football team causes a stir when he admits to being gay to his team mates and then goes on a journey to discover himself (with the help of the local press). He soon finds himself on the bench for most of his teams matches and decides to call it quits and join a small amateur team made up of men like himself - gay guys trying to play football in a straight world of Icelandic fishing culture machoism

The story takes place during one bright summer night and follows a group of young teenagers on a journey from innocence to adulthood. The main character is a timid boy who has a typical schoolboy crush on a girl his age, who happens to be a friend of his mate.

A group of friends meet for a dinner, and for fun start a party game where everyone must share everything that comes into their phones. Before long, the secrets spill out and threaten to spoil the most important thing of all, the 'hygge'.

A group of Icelanders attend a course to search for their inner self.

An Oscar nominated Icelandic short film about an old man who might leave his farm but keeps a secret.

Andri, an anxious teenage boy, hides and represses his sexuality in fear of his masculine father's reaction but, on the eve of Andri's first date, he finds a clever way to reveal his secret.

Centers on Georg Bjarnfreðarson, an over-educated know-it-all who has just been released from jail after a ten year sentence for manslaughter, but is still a prisoner of his own past.

Saga gets hit by a fierce epileptic attack walking in a public park with her six-year-old son resulting in a total memory loss. Afraid of being considered unable to take care of her son, Saga attempts to hide her state from others and occupies herself digging for the answers she needs from within. As she struggles to gather bits and pieces from her forgotten life, repressed memories that Saga unconsciously blocked as a child suddenly start to come back, revealing a painful truth about herself and her past.

An elderly couple leave their retirement home to make one last journey back to their home in the Western Fjords.

Jon, a middle-aged professor is going to get married tomorrow, for the second time, to one of his ex-students half his age. But it's not all roses. First, there's his cranky mother-in-law-to-be who violently opposes the marriage and who demands repayment of Jon's loan before the wedding night. Second, his plans to build a golf course on the little island of Flatey where they live aren't going at all to plan. Third, his extremely drunk best man is on the loose without any shoes and lastly, the continual presence of his emotional first wife is haunting his every move. When the guests start flocking to the island, Jon starts getting cold feet. After a very long night of drinking and thinking, will Jon be able to make it to the church on time?

A love story about two gay wrestlers living in rural Iceland who must keep their relationship a secret from the inner world of Iceland's national and very macho sport.

Two employees of the Icelandic Road Administration spend the summer painting lines on the winding roads as they both find themselves at a crossroads in their lives.

Trausti returns to Iceland just in time to be entangled in a family feud over a stranded whale-cadaver. His mother (the family head) is mortally wounded and Grim kills Erikur; the other clan leader. Isold, daughter of Erikur now takes his place. Isold and Trausti are attracted to each other, but Isold was promised to Hjoerleifur - the son of the Bishop (of Iceland) and his powerful wife. However, Isold has a plan...

Post-war provincial Iceland: around 1950, Freyja, who'd been a plump teen, returns from America, a widow with a 20-inch waist, seven suitcases of dresses, and a list of who ever wronged or slighted her. She moves in with an aunt and socialist uncle: finding a new husband is high on her agenda, and she's mistrusted by Agga, a pre-teen who's our eyes and ears. The social order and Freyja are more complicated than they seem at first, and so may be her prospects. Class divisions, families ties, pride, the onset of puberty, and the power of Eros sliver the ice.

Indiana lives in a council estate and makes her living preying on the welfare system. In her small private garden she tends to her award winning tree. When her only son turns up with a foreign girlfriend - Indiana's world is upended.

A college student begins working as a cam girl, with support from her best friend.

When a new neighbour arrives at Rannveig´s doorstep, her frustrated everyday life suddenly changes. The cloud of hopelessness that surrounds her marriage and her relationship with her almost adult daughter lifts temporarily but soon the family is forced to confront new and unknown challenges in their relationship.

A lonesome boy who has just moved to a small fishing village loses his innocence as a mysterious girl he just met has a tragic accident.

An art-house comedy about an ordinary family running the unusual business of elf tourism and spiritual sessions. Their house is built around an elf stone, which is sacred to the wife Lara, who is blessed with a sixth sense. When they get an offer to sell the stone at a high price, her husband Óskar is really tempted.

At a local party in the suburbs of Reykjavik, Hanna (19) and Jonas (20) escape into the laundry room to share an intimate moment, but when boundaries are crossed the emotional aftermath of guilt quickly follows.

Karitas is a single mother of four who desperately tries to make ends meet. Fighting a losing battle with her ex-husband for custody over her three daughters, she is oblivious to what’s going on with her twelve year old Gudmund, a victim of brutal bullying at school and whose life is on the fast track to destruction. Gudmund’s only friend in the world is Marinó, a schizophrenic in his fourties who lives with his mother in the same apartment building. When Marinó realizes that his mother has secretly been dating a stranger, Marinó starts to lose grip on reality.

A young trans person travels to the city in search of the freedom to be themselves

The film deals with unexpected and unexplainable loss. Due to an accident, the life of a happy family turns into a larger-than-life tragedy.

Anna is a 12-year-old girl, living in a small fishing village. She is at a crossroad in her life. Her surroundings are changing - and so is she.

Vala and Benni are on the road and struggle to find a mutual purpose in their new destination.

Two girls disappear from a playground and the two best detectives in the police force try to solve the case.

A police woman lost in violence, a mechanic revenging for his lost son, a crime kingpin with a heart condition, a corrupt officer in love with a prostitute will destroy each other.

Two childhood friends get a long-awaited opportunity to found and run a seafood restaurant together. When one of them comes out of the closet as a trans woman, their friendship gets tested.

When Emilý, a twenty-five year old content creator, learns that her long-distance girlfriend wants to move to Iceland and make their open relationship exclusive, she must face her anxieties about the future. All the while trying to support her teenaged co-worker and battle financial difficulties.

Tenderly captures a year in the life of a family as the parents navigate their separation. Through both playful and heartfelt moments, the film portrays the bittersweet essence of faded love and shared memories amidst the changing seasons.

A couple decide to get married in a church out in the country. It is 1 hour drive from Reykjavik but things do not go as planed.

December is a present-day tale set in Reykjavik during the holiday season. Jonni (Tomas Lemarquis) returns to Iceland to spend Christmas with his family and to record an album with his old (one-hit-wonder) band. He soon finds out that circumstances in his family have changed dramatically and his friends have moved on. We follow Jonni as he deals with this blunt new reality. Tomas Lemarquis, the star of Noi the Albino, plays Jonni, a musician who after a long time living abroad returns to home Iceland to spend Christmas with his family and record an album with his old (one-hit-wonder) band. He soon finds out that family circumstances have changed dramatically and that his friends have moved on. Dealing with this blunt new reality, Jonni also has to wrestle with the reigniting of an old flame, as he helps his family make Christmas merry in spite of everything.

Lísa is fifteen years old and quite different from other girls her age. She has isolated herself and has a big secret about herself. When her childhood friend Bryndís starts reaching out to her, the two reunite, leading Lísa to discover more secrets about her body and medical history.