Honestly, most people went into The Northman expecting a standard "hero’s journey" draped in mud and wolf skins. You know the drill. Alexander Skarsgård looks like a grizzly bear in human form, screams at the moon, and vows to save his mother from the clutches of an evil uncle. It’s classic Shakespeare—literally, it’s the legend that inspired Hamlet. But then, about two-thirds into Robert Eggers’ brutal Viking epic, Nicole Kidman happens.
If you haven’t seen it, or if you just need to process what the heck happened in that bedchamber, let’s get into it. Kidman’s role as Queen Gudrún is the ultimate rug-pull. It doesn't just change the plot; it retroactively makes every heroic thing Amleth did feel kinda... stupid.
Nicole Kidman The Northman: The Twist That Broke the Movie
For the first hour, we see Gudrún through the eyes of a traumatized son. She’s the "damsel" held captive by Fjölnir, the man who murdered her husband. Amleth’s whole identity is built on the mantra: Avenge father. Save mother. Kill Fjölnir. He lives for this. He eats, breathes, and murders for this.
Then comes the confrontation. Amleth finally sneaks into her room to "rescue" her.
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He expects tears. He expects a grateful hug. Instead, Nicole Kidman gives him a look that could peel paint off a wall. She basically tells him, "Honey, I’m not a captive. I’m the one who asked for your father to be killed."
The reveal is devastating because it’s so cold. Gudrún explains that she was a slave taken by King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke). She never loved him. To her, he was just another "cowardly brute" who forced her into his bed. When Fjölnir killed him, it wasn’t a tragedy for her; it was a promotion.
Kidman’s performance in this specific scene is high-wire stuff. She goes from mocking Amleth’s "simpleness" to cackling hysterically, then suddenly tries to seduce him. Yeah, it gets weird. She suggests he kill Fjölnir and take his place—not just as king, but in her bed. It’s a moment of pure, unadulterated "What am I watching?" that only Kidman could pull off without it feeling like a cheap B-movie.
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Why This Role Matters for Kidman’s Career
Nicole Kidman has a knack for playing women who are way more dangerous than they look. Think To Die For or even her work in Big Little Lies. In fact, reuniting with Skarsgård here was a stroke of genius. In the HBO series, they played a husband and wife in a deeply abusive, toxic relationship. Switching that energy to a mother-son dynamic in The Northman adds a layer of meta-creepiness that makes their scenes together feel electric and inherently "wrong."
Director Robert Eggers is known for being a stickler for historical accuracy. He wants the mud to look like 10th-century mud. But Kidman brings a theatricality that balances the grit. She’s wearing these incredibly detailed costumes—pleated linen and high-status jewelry—looking every bit the queen, yet she’s talking about the most primal, disgusting human urges.
- The Unreliable Narrator: The film forces us to realize that Amleth’s memory of his mother’s "screams" during the coup was likely a lie he told himself. She was probably laughing.
- The Power of Agency: Gudrún isn't a victim of patriarchy in the traditional sense; she’s a survivor who learned how to manipulate the monsters around her.
- The Ending: Her fate is tied to her second son, Gunnar. She fights Amleth with a sword, proving she’s just as much a "Northman" as any of the bearded dudes in the film.
What Most People Get Wrong About Gudrún
There’s a common take that Gudrún is just "evil." That’s a bit of a lazy read. If you look at her backstory, she was a slave. Her "rightful" husband was a man who treated her like property.
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Is she a good person? Absolutely not. She tries to have her own son killed. But in the world Eggers built—a world of blood feuds and "fate"—she’s the only one being honest. Amleth is obsessed with "honor," but Gudrún is obsessed with survival. She’s the only character who sees the Viking code for what it actually is: a cycle of pointless violence.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Film Buffs
If you’re looking to dive deeper into this performance or the movie itself, here’s how to actually appreciate what Kidman did:
- Rewatch the first act with the twist in mind. Look at Kidman’s face during the initial raid. She isn't just a background character; she’s a participant.
- Compare it to Shakespeare’s Gertrude. Most versions of Hamlet leave the mother’s complicity ambiguous. Eggers and Kidman decided to make it explicit, which makes the story much more cynical and, frankly, more interesting.
- Check out the costume design. Notice how her clothing changes from the vibrant reds of a trophy queen to the practical, high-status "farmwife" look in Iceland. It mirrors her shift from being a pawn to a player.
The real takeaway from Nicole Kidman in The Northman is that the "hero" of a story is often just the person who hasn't heard the truth yet. Amleth’s tragedy wasn’t just that his father died; it was that the woman he spent twenty years trying to "save" didn’t want his help. She was doing just fine without him.
To really get the full experience, watch Kidman's 2022 interviews about the role. She’s remarkably candid about how she and Skarsgård used their previous "Big Little Lies" history to build that uncomfortable tension. It’s rare to see a Hollywood star of her caliber lean so hard into a role that is purposefully unlikable and grotesque. That’s why we’re still talking about it years later.