Black Crab
NETFLIXIt is hard to oppose the statement that since Noomi Rapace's Hollywood breakout role in Ridley Scott's Prometheus a decade ago, the actress has ultimately underwhelmed with not only the vast talent she has as a performer but also with the projects she decides to attach herself. A few pieces in the mainstream with Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, The Drop and Child 44 sealed little impact. The actress has almost exclusively worked on NETFLIX projects – such as Unlocked, Bright, What Happened to Monday, Close, and The Trip – making up the vast catalogue of work within those last ten years. Nevertheless, Rapace returns to the Netflix crowd in action thriller Black Crab, but much like the actress herself, Adam Berg's feature has a lot more going on under the surface than audiences might think.
After the sleeper and surprising hit of Valdimar Johannsson's Lamb last year earned the actress rave reviews, it is has been quite interesting to see what projects ultimately come to fruition. Black Crab seemingly signalled another continuation of the average, action laced outing with little to no reward. Nevertheless, as surprising and perhaps as shocking as is, Black Crab details the emotional and immersive experience of an intriguing character with a feature that takes risks in terms of narrative and elements that push back on convention. Granted, these are not risks that will shake the ground of the cinematic zeitgeist, but they are risky decisions in alienating the film's audience and ultimately revealing the true nature of proceedings. Thankfully, this decision pays off for the most part, and in a state of irony, the limitation of the story and excess propels this feature into a more intimate and compelling experience. Think Saving Private Ryan, but the audience does not know who the enemy is nor the context and history of what this event means. This is ultimately what Black Crab situates itself as, like Noomi Rapace's Edh, the audience and the main protagonist are thrust into an environment they know little about aside from their surroundings but are given the trajectory of A to B, and this suffices enough for a plot. It is risky on numerous elements but ultimately suffices in a more profound paranoia of who is who and what is what. Enemies can be deceiving, but who truly is the enemy in the art of war? Made more interesting when this specific genre ultimately comes into friction in terms of depiction regarding the convention of the military as lord and saviour. Suppose the Scandinavian murder dramas are anything to go by with representing the population and regime in place to keep them safe. In that case, nobody is free from a perfect angelic depiction, and Black Crab, to its credit, showcases the reality and bleak nature of military control, if that be their translation of civilians or morality in conquest.
Attributes brought to realisation in a monetary constraint but well-executed production and set design that showcases the above terror and mood in quite haunting and eerie visual depictions. One such sequence of a capsised cruise ship transporting civilians on a frozen lake remains burned into the viewers' memory for the entire proceeding runtime. However, it is made all the more compelling in how and in which way director Adam Berg and editor Kristofer Nordin choose how and when to depict such an atrocity. These are not just images of horrors without context presented in terror but are ultimately left with a searching answer for why? Why did this happen, and who did it? Fleeting answers at first but ultimately, a bigger picture that analyses morality comes to fruition with disturbing and haunting results.
Nevertheless, regarding specifics, the descriptors and synopsis of the events that unfold or just the set-up are vague at best, and to truly indulge in the twists and turns, it feels only fitting to protect the narrative surprises and for the audience to go in completely blind. It is this thematic that carries on throughout, nothing is ever what it seems, and Berg's film juggles tone and convention quite well with one significant ingredient and core relationship that glues proceedings together, and one that is so sequential to succeeding than if it underwhelms, Berg's film crumbles within itself. The answer, of course, is the emotional core link between Rapace's Edh and her daughter. Very little is shown and depicted in their relationship aside from three pivotal scenes that occur in one day but are split up in a non-cyclical depiction in intervals during the running time. This relationship has less than five minutes of screen time and acts as the core reason why Edh has the courage and acts as she does throughout the feature. However, again it is the anti-convention of how Berg and writer Pelle Rådström craft the reality of the situation that raises an additional emotional core of the feature and ultimately further tightens the relationship between character and audience. With how well executed the writing is here, it is not without merit to congratulate how much Rapace throws herself into this role. Quite literally, in fact, as a character who ultimately signs up to the military as an ordinary citizen and in the humanity and real-world depiction of somebody just pushing to get to the next step. This authenticity depicts a more compelling narrative and core relationship in that the lead character is a human being with human problems, not an Arnold Schwarzenegger type invincible character but someone who knows her decisions could be her last if she does not think and feel. Rapace excels here, and it could be further argued that she is working with scraps, but she conquers this character, aside from the god-awful hair and make-up team who put her in a strawberry blonde curly wig throughout that looks silly, but nothing is ever really perfect is it?
Audiences are still waiting for Noomi Rapace to captivate screens like in The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and Prometheus, but Black Crab goes a long way in putting the actress back into the mainstream spotlight and showcasing the expertise talent the actress is capable of depicting. Thankfully, said depiction comes in the form of an incredibly emphatic feature from Adam Berg that excels in the thematic core of morality and emotion with a well crafted, immersive and quite compelling action thriller.
