Northern Exposure: Highlights of this year’s Nordic Film Festival

By creammagazine, July 27, 2026

Now in its 12th year, the Nordic Film Festival (formerly the Scandinavian Film Festival) proudly continues its tradition of showcasing the finest contemporary Nordic film, handpicked from the world’s most reputable festivals, and there are plenty of great movies to draw you into a cosy seat at the cinema. Some of the films are political, others pure fun.

On an eco front, from debut director Elle Sofe Sara there is the powerful, music-filled drama Árru which follows a family of Sàmi reindeer herders whose fight to protect their Indigenous lands from a proposed copper mining project that hides long-buried historic secrets. Árru draws on Sámi cultural expression to explore a breathtakingly genuine connection to the environment. It is a fierce and cathartic tale about resilience, reclaiming one’s voice, and standing firm for the land that endures. Australian politicians, take note.

Diversity is key to this year’s festival, and people take centre-place in most of the films. Not Ai. Not robots. Not the internet. People and their sometimes wonderful, often surreal surrounds. From the program, out picks are The Guest, Offroad, The Last Viking (starring Mads Mikkelsen of the Hannibal series), Weightless, A Light That Never Goes Out, Tell Everyone, and the already-proving-popular The Pension Heist.

Here, Cream reviews another festival highlight, The Last Resort.

Review by Annette McCubbin

The Last Resort (Paradis), directed by Maria Sødahl, is the kind of drama that on paper reads like an intense thriller yet offers a profound depth of politically-charged perspective that moves you with its provocative storytelling, resounding with global tensions today.

A Danish family’s well-deserved holiday paradise at a luxury resort at the Canary Islands, is interrupted when the couple accidentally hit a stranger with their car. Feeling guilty, they offer the morally admirable position of assisting the stranger who is badly injured – a boat refugee in hiding.

At first, he turns up at their luxury resort pleading for more help from them – harmless enough. But he continues to pressure the couple for more than they feel comfortable with, and quickly poses a risk to their family including their two young daughters.

The family are forced to question their moralistic, humanitarian values as their holiday reality quickly transitions from paradise to hell.

A compelling drama, The Last Resort combines traditional thriller elements with unsettling, unnerving tension as it presents the human paradox: help to family first, or to those that look like they are in more need of i. Director Sødahl intentionally provokes with both visuals and dialogue – a beautiful manipulator of the craft of filmmaking.

If you really want to be moved by a movie, make The Last Resort your first choice.

The 2026 Nordic Film Festival is on at Luna and Palace Cinemas from July 23 to August 16.