Five Bone-Crunching Films to Watch After The Northman

The Green Knight (2021)
A psychedelic interpretation of the 14th century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, David Lowery’s adaptation is one of the most visually stunning films to hit the cinema in recent years.  
Dev Patel seizes the reins as Gaiwan, illuminating the fraught internal landscape of King Arthur’s nephew with dexterity.

A mesmerising introduction to mediaeval literature – a genre notoriously difficult to broach –  The Green Knight is arguably the best work yet by American director Lowery.

The King (2019) 
Taking cues from William Shakespeare's Henriad, The King stars Timothée Chalamet as the Prince of Wales, a dissolute, day-drinking itinerant who reluctantly becomes the King of England. The son of a tyrant, Henry V must navigate the explosive politics and violent war left in his father’s wake. The script leaves ample room for Chalamet’s deft touch and it’s also undoubtedly worth watching for Robert Pattinson’s arrogant portrayal of the Dauphin of France.

While the writers and actors took plenty of artistic liberties with the source material, we’re not complaining when the characters are this interesting.

The Lighthouse (2019) 
A stormy yarn set in 19th century Maine, The Lighthouse will leave you waterlogged for days. Although distinct from the other films on this list, the project contains all the cinematic hallmarks of Robert Eggers’ autership, including meticulous research and pedantic period detailing. 

Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two drunk and belligerent lighthouse keepers, The Lighthouse was inexplicably left at sea by the academy in 2019, the film not nominated for a single award. Alas, sensitive stomachs be forewarned!

300 (2006) 
Adapted from Frank Miller’s 1998 comic book series of the same name, the brutal and bloody 300 landed in cinemas in 2006. Set in 480 B.C. the narrative centres around the Battle of Thermopylae, a conflict between Ancient Greek city states and the Achaemenid Empire of Xerxes I. Both bone-splitting and one-dimensional, the unique cinematic techniques used allow the film to take on the legendary characteristics of Miller’s artwork, the big budget spectacle landing just one year after another of his adaptations, Sin City.

Though not as thoughtful as Eggers’ viking-era creation, the fight sequences alone make this one worth revisiting again and again.

Conan the Barbarian (1982) 
Based on the novels of Robert E. Howard, the king of the sword and sorcery subgenre, Conan the Barbarian catapulted the young – and preternaturally buff – Arnold Schwarzenegger to stardom in the 1980s. Written by John Milius and Oliver Stone, the film is a tale of vengeance, Conan engaging on a bloody quest to hunt down the leader of a snake cult responsible for the death of his parents.

Still criminally underrated more broadly, Conan the Barbarian has become a cult classic in recent years, the 129-minute odyssey replete with indelible lines by Schwarzenegger and graced with a classic score by Basil Poledouris. Never straying too far from its source material (Howard’s unpretentious pulp fiction of the 1930s), Conan the Barbarian paved the way for Schwarzenegger’s meteoric rise in Hollywood. 

Hell, it might even inspire your new workout routine.