Brutality goes big in this Viking saga

The story of The Northman begins in 895 AD, but it feels older than that still, so elemental it must have been told and retold in some form by cavemen. This iteration is based on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which in turn inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet: a young prince witnesses the death of his father at the hand of his uncle, runs away, grows up, and returns to avenge his loss and reclaim his kingdom.

But if your eyes are already glazing over from the sheer familiarity of and sea-shanty fever dream trades in mythology but not cliché: you’ve heard and seen this tale a million times before, but never exactly like this, seeping blood and guts and a kind of visceral spiritual ecstasy.