Margrete: Queen of the North (2021) User Reviews

Mixed bag

[petervd · 6/10 · 22 September 2021]

'Margrete the First' is the epitome of an epic Danish tale. With monarchs, battle strife, magnificent costumes and big politics. All in all, a magnificent staging that is impressive. The acting was gripping, here one must especially highlight Trine Dyrholm's interpretation of Margrete 1. However, some of the lines could at times seem a bit too theatrical and fake. Morten Hee Andersen's role as the naive and arrogant Prince Erik of Pomerania, unfortunately, fell flat on its face for me. It seemed as if he was in a different universe than the rest of the characters, whether it was Morten's portrayal or the manuscript is hard to know.

With a feature length of 2 hours, it is always a challenge to keep the viewers' attention, here Margrete the 1st unfortunately does not succeed either. A strong start and end, does not excuse for a drawn out and unfocused mid point. Especially one storyline that I do not want to spoil, did not lead to much and ended abruptly. It could quickly have been explained with a scene or two. The worst thing a movie can do is waste the audience time.

I personally watch movies to be entertained with an exciting and gripping story. The story was fascinating, the production magnificent and the acting was mostly excellent. I missed a more focused narrative, with fewer plotlines, better pacing, and less navel-gazing. The story as it is portrayed here would have worked better as a new Sunday drama series.

The Truth Will Be Revealed

[protestant-80830 · 6/10 · 13 February 2022]

A fascinating historical film. However, maybe the ordinary people at the time were right to suspect Margrete of arranging the murder of her own son, because after ruling as regent since Olaf became king at 5 years old, she refused to give up power when he came of age at 14, continuing to rule until he rebelled against her at 16. But the assassins she hired secretly let him escape, and she adopted Eric of Pomerania, on condition that Eric would allow her to rule behind the scenes, which he did. When Olaf returned to claim his throne, Eric coached one of his Pomeranian serfs to act the role of Olaf before the entire court, after she had the real Olaf seized in secret. Then she and Eric burnt the real Olaf alive, along with all his royal documents, so that her evil deeds would never be known. But these are the End Times, and all that was hidden shall be revealed.

It could be better

[ruzbarskyoliver · 7/10 · 14 March 2022]

When i came across that movie i knew that i must see it. As a huge fan of historic movies, my expectations were high ,however, the movie itself let me quite disappointed. The storytelling is good although i found myself bored and sometimes instead of watching i checked my mobile phone. In my opinion the other characters deserved more space in order to better describe their backgrounds as well as intentions. I could recommend the movie to everyone who is interested in history or good drama.

Good but not follwing the story as it was originally

[thorthundersound · 4 October 2022]

This is a good good movie, but the story is not correct. First of all the man claiming to be King Olav did not speak the nordic languages at all. And the original Olav who died suddenly by lung inflammation, and was viewed by many before buried in 1387. So the story that allmost no one saw him is not correct. Its been many theories on how the real Olav Håkonsson died. That he was killed by his mother to make the danish kingdom take over and build a union with denmark ruled by her. And he was also king of Denmark and Sweden at the time he lived. So he had all the nordic kingdoms by his rule. The fake King did also not just appear, but was delivered to the Danish Queen for a trail.

To Queen or not to Queen

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 4 May 2022]

It's quite interesting: the main actress of this made a movie called Queen - at least in Germany - a few years ahead of this. But the other movie was contemporary. This is clearly a period piece - that said, it is not less dramatic than the other one she is starring in. Different for sure - quite different to be honest.

In this she has a lot more responsibility - if she behaved like she does in the other movie ... let's leave that aside though. Ruling is not easy - so many people to please, so many people that want what you have. So many powers to juggle - especially if you want to avoid war ... and try to stay ahead of enemies within your own ranks.

A very fine movie, with very fine actors. If you don't mind reading subtitles this is recommended for sure.

An interesting piece of fictionalised history

[steveinadelaide · 7/10 · 9 December 2022]

MARGRETE: QUEEN OF THE NORTH is an epic historical drama that follows Queen Margrete I who successfully united the Nordic Kingdoms under a single banner as she is challenged by the appearance of a son, believed to be dead, who threatens to unseat her adopted son, Erik, from the throne.

The movie captures the beauty of Scandinavia with stunning visuals and beautiful cinematography, effectively immersing viewers in this period of history.

The story is wonderfully executed, as we follow Margrete's journey through intense trials and tribulations. Her character is both strong and vulnerable as she navigates a dangerous political landscape filled with deceit. We watch her battle against powerful forces and make tough decisions, all while trying to protect the union she has created.

The cast of MARGRETE: QUEEN OF THE NORTH does an excellent job of bringing these characters to life. The performances are captivating and memorable, creating an emotional journey for viewers to follow. The film also features a powerful score that helps drive the narrative forward with urgency.

Unfortunately, the movie does have its flaws. The pacing of the first hour is slow and tends to be a bit plodding, which can make the story feel drawn out. Additionally, certain plot points may be difficult to follow if you are not familiar with the history of this era.

Overall, MARGRETE: QUEEN OF THE NORTH is an entertaining film that manages to capture an important moment in history. While it does have its faults, it also has a lot of heart and is filled with powerful performances. If you are looking for a historical drama with high stakes and intense drama, then this is a film worth checking out.

Margrete:Queen of the North

[joerocca07 · 7/10 · 27 January 2024]

This is also known as Margrete: Queen of the North.

It has English subtitles. Brilliant acting. Storyline is very convincing. Shows off some spectacular scenery. A topic/or part of history that is not well known.

All shall be revealed.

The Queen of Sweden tried to have her son killed cause he was getting to big for his boots. The attempt on the son's life was not successful. Thus the son went into hiding for 15 years. Until he was stumbled upon by a Norwegian farmer; on the very day that the King was going to marry an English princess. The supposedly dead king does everything in his power. Zac.

I enjoyed it immensely

[OJT · 9/10 · 18 May 2022]

I think this is he best medieval age movie made in Scandinavia so far, and tells the story about when Queen Margrete I was told she lost her son to the plague, and then he turned up many years later. Or did he?

She was quit convinced but noone seemed to recognize him as grown up.

He was also the single heir, and was claiming the throne, which was seen as an opportunity for an impostor.

Well played, great storytelling as well as perfect setting.

Something's rotten in Denmark and smells of ludfisk

[private-90505 · 2/10 · 23 February 2023]

Oh, wait. It's this movie -- a dreary mix of revisionist history that degrades a powerful and socially progressive queen who unified Norway, Sweden and Denmark under her reign.

But here, this exceptional monarch is portrayed as a powerless victim, treated with indifference or hostility by staff, nobles, the church and an ungrateful adopted son in a shoddy script riddled with potholes, poorly played by dinner theater-quality actors. The whole mess is wrapped in a lame attempt at English-language dubbing and unusually steep streaming fees.

This waste of time could have been avoided had we seen Queen Margrete tell an alleged second son, presumed dead yet attempting to usurp her, to display a birthmark or mole that a mother would surely recognize. That conveniently missing scene actually happened in 1402, but including it here would have crushed this cinematic Danish pastry.

Humans Never Change

[westsideschl · 9/10 · 30 May 2022]

Karmar Union of Norway, Sweden (included Finland) & Denmark headed by Queen Margrete (Margaret) of Denmark (ruled from 1380s until 1412). Wary of Germany an English royalty daughter, Philippa (age about 12), in 1406 is married to King Erik (adopted son of Margrete) to provide an alliance with England. Margrete's birth son, Olaf, is the main mystery when he shows up after 15 years, after supposedly dying, to claim the throne. A good job of cramming a lot of potentially confusing history into 2 hours.

Disappointing, great potential waisted.

[Quasi-9 · 1/10 · 5 December 2021]

I am a great fan of our greatest king, which was a queen namely Margrethe the first, daughter of Valdemar Atterdag, the king that made Denmark a nation.

The storyline is confusing and the queen motivation for her rather odd behaviour isn't realistic at all, would you recognize your own son after 15 years apart, the answer is somehow yes to make the lousy plot make any sense.

Overall the acting is weak and fails to portray the strength of a woman that held three kingdoms together in a time where men ruled everything. Trine Dyrholm performance is lackluster and it feels like she is reading from a teleprompter.

The photography and scenaries, stil make it worth watching, but it a shame that the producers fails in making this what it could and should have been and instead delivers a very forgettable movie.

I feel sorry for those who did not like it.

[mmunier · 1 December 2022]

Yes I do!

From the world 'go' I was in awe! On such a large screen emerged a magnificent scenery with a haunting and beautiful music that introduced this wonderful story.

Wonderful not because everything was rosy, but because real roses do have thorns... So beauty, sorrow and pain creates wonders.

I'm not a historian or a politician but I enjoyed every minutes of this tale.

I'm not a truth's diciple either and what unfolded in front of my eyes was so good nontheless. And it certainly kept me interested its whole time.

For me it was also refreshing to see something so good with actors / actresses I never came across before.

It was too good for me, to try to see if I could criticise it in any way; as again, for me, its weight of quality did sufocate any negative aspect that may have been present.

I never give a score but I'm surprised Margrete Queen of the North did not get a higher score ; although I understand at time of my visit here, there were only 15 reviews... I have seen movies that I hold in very high esteem for specific reasons. But this one will be also at the top of my "likes" for no specific reasons, simply because it was so enjoyable.

Excellent!!

[jacobmygindpedersen · 9/10 · 20 November 2021]

High quality all the way. Excellent actors and touching story. The best movie I have seen in a long time. I had wet eyes by the acting and the story. Trine Dyrholm is just incredible.

Disappointed

[skagenpc · 2/10 · 8 December 2021]

Had been looking forward to seeing this film but was disappointed it could be a good film but is ruined by bad Danish actors and poor understanding of the old Danish language.

The story itself is good but is very messy in this movie, the minor king may suddenly make decisions when it fits into the movie but it does not reflect the real world.

A shame to ruin a really good Danish story on this film. Hope there is a better one who will try to make the same movie.

Holy s*** is been a long time since a Danish movie was this good!

[rebekka_andreasen-02543 · 8/10 · 11 November 2021]

I don't know how to express with words how beautiful the cinematography is in this movie. I kept forgetting that it was a Danish/nordic movie. I wanted it to be a series, and stay in the universe! It's definitely worth it. Holy s***. I have nothing bad to say 👌

Oh well..

[Sick-Dale · 2/10 · 18 February 2022]

Was really enjoying the movie for about 11 minutes, and before I had to close the player.

Then ofcourse the usual historical social-(re)engineering had to be stirred in, and I know its probably dumb to give up an enjoyable movie so lightly, but I just cant take and tolerate it any longer.

correct

[Kirpianuscus · 28 October 2022]

A correct historical film, seductive for admirable acting of Trine Dyrholm, for atmosphere and for structure of story.

A queen and her duties. The peace, with hard effort created, and its fragility. Two sons and an union . Questions about power, legitimity and a marriage.

The result is a correct film, the fiction reigning , the historical facts being used as start points.

The great virtue - the fair construction of tension, the clothes and dances and the smart structure of intrigue , at each level.

In short, a beautiful Dansk film , seductive for the peace message, for portrait of strong and powerful woman and, sure, for the admirable Trine Dyrholm and Soren Malling. Many familiar scenes and the history in its essence.

Perfect Film

[robinexupery · 10/10 · 25 November 2023]

Took a punt on watching this due to negative user reviews. Couldn't have been more surprised or overwhelmed by how good this film is in every aspect. Essential viewing.

Script is fantastic. Acting peerless. Sets and shots are so perfectly executed as to be unnoticed as much as being totally immersing. The story is one of the best I've seen, it makes gladiator look trivial, notwithstanding the family tragedies at the heart of that classic. This could be my new favourite film.

Took a punt on watching this due to negative user reviews. Couldn't have been more surprised or overwhelmed by how good this film is in every aspect. Essential viewing.

Script is fantastic. Acting peerless. Sets and shots are so perfectly executed as to be unnoticed as much as being totally immersing. The story is one of the best I've seen, it makes gladiator look trivial, notwithstanding the family tragedies at the heart of that classic. This could be my new favourite film.

Great potential wasted

[JoeyFilm999 · 5/10 · 26 September 2022]

Its a pitty, that this history is so boring. Over 120 minuts of flat acting and slow theatrical interpretations, sometimes like fake ones. "Margrete" follows one storyline with dedicated, occasionally leaden fidelity, proceeding at a pace that might be appropriate in a 20-hour season of television, but that feels unusually indulgent in a feature film. It has almost everything one expects from these proposals: intrigue, family conflicts, sex, violence, jealousy, betrayal, etc. What it does not have is a clear meaning or purpose. Spectacular ambiance, cinematography, arts, etc. Historical and political heft to justify the epic scope of the filmmaking.

Beautiful imagining

[avindugunasinghe · 8/10 · 11 February 2023]

Selfless sacrifice is what makes this world work and it's beauty is admired well inside this story. Plot was steady and uncompromising. Great performances by the cast and especially by Trine Dyrholm making the watch truly worthwhile. Reimagining of the ancient monarchy and society was done smoothly. Instead of painting the history in black the movie stand bold as an appreciation of the Scandinavian literature. A fitting use of visual effects with beautiful scenery. Producing this movie inspired by this tense folk tale was productive and a great find. Don't see a reason for retelling the story of Fake Oluf any sooner.

Very disappointing historical fiction and waste of potential

[werder-26857 · 1/10 · 21 June 2023]

Unfortunately, it is not historically accurate. And then this story about a mother murdering (via burning) her innocent son to save the kingdom: what a morally corrupt and repugnant conclusion to the film. Also the pacing is usually slow and the story is not really well executed as well as poor understanding of the history of the Kalmar Union and its neighbours. Especially constructing all Germans as enemies and enemy country (there was no unified Germany then), although in reality she also had German allies and the Teutonic Order and the Hanse cities were enemies. And the story mixes up Hanse and Teutonic Order. I also wonder how French soldiers ended up in Scandinavia according to this story. But maybe it is too much to ask for more historical accuracy. I do not understand why they changed the real history. Where did this anti-German bias come from? Instead, we have basically a theatre play abundant with historical fabrications and derailments, e.g. Fictional story about the Teutonic Order which is accused of trying to conquer the whole of Scandinavia, although this Order was busy somewhere else at the time (fighting against Poland; interestingly Poland was one of the producers of this movie). Besides, the Kalmar Union itself was not accepted everywhere in Scandinavia. And according to her biographers, Margret was a very different person as portrayed in the movie. It could have been a better story. The life of Margret was full of interesting stuff. Why change it at all? I have seen better Scandinavian movies about the middle ages made and generally better Danish movies. Too.

Good enough story and acting, but the bad dubbing kept me from finishing it.

[griffida-85305 · 5/10 · 28 December 2022]

The story was intriguing, and the acting good. By the time I got around to watching this, the original language film had been replaced by the English dubbed version. I usually like to watch films in their original language and follow with captions. This is because it seems like it is very difficult to match dubbed voices with the film. This film was no exception to that. What could have been a very good film was rendered silly by the mis-matched voices. The mood and characters in this film are all fairly tough and gritty, and most into middle age, but the dubbed voices were young, smooth, and cultured-sounding. I couldn't finish the film. I'd love the chance to see this in it's original language.

Gets worse as it goes

[fph-92804 · 3/10 · 19 November 2023]

It starts out well, makes promises for the direction it will take, and seems gripping to begin with.

Unfortunately, it then squanders it all, leaving behind historical accuracy, consistency and suspense, all for the sake of trying to add suspense.

The real historic fake Oluf was exposed as a fraud the minute he arrived at court, and was not the true king or son of Margrethe.

I can understand departing from history in movies, but here it is such a blatant lie that it spoils whole movie for me.

And so does the sudden out-of-character actions of the main characters, as well as the insufferable acting from the actor playing King Erik.