Part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival

When respected surgeon Finnur (Kormakur) discovers that his unstable drug addict daughter Anna (Hera Hilmar) is becoming increasingly influenced by her new boyfriend Ottar (Gísli Örn Garðarsson), he at first tries to bribe Ottar to leave her. However, Finnur continues to be intimidated by the drug dealer, culminating in Ottar brutally assaulting him with an iron bar. Eventually, Finnur is pushed towards enacting his own form of revenge on Ottar, one that makes full use of his medical training…

Experienced action director Kormakur (Contraband, The Deep) effectively establishes the difficulties Finnur faces as a gradually escalating situation that is out of the mild-mannered professional’s expertise, with Ottar disrupting his cosy middle-class life by his frequent demands, and Anna refusing to leave him and let Finnur help her.

Kormakur also manages to make Finnur’s capturing and torturing of Ottar, involving the previously non-violent surgeon keeping his victim frequently sedated with stolen morphine, more distinctive than the usual Death Wish-lite shoot-em-up antics of Liam Neeson and other revenge films. The plausibility of Finnur’s sudden shift towards violence is helped not only by the incorporation of his medical knowledge, but also by Kormakur’s commitment to the role.

As well as showing off his physical prowess through a few somewhat-gratuitous shirtless shots showing the surgeon’s abs-laden torso, Kormakur uses the slow build-up as an opportunity to display his acting range. The film’s earlier scenes showing Finnur with his family allow Kormakur to convincingly portray Finnur’s decline from hard-working family man to evasive criminal. Gardarsson also provides Ottar with more depth than is usual for the usual revenge film antagonist. This is evident during Ottar’s interrogation by Finnur after his capture. Gardarsson sounds convincingly vulnerable as Ottar confesses that he is not the intimidating drug dealer that Anna thinks he is, making him seem less like a one-dimensional caricature to be dispatched quickly.

The Oath‘s only weak element is the implausibility of Finnur being able to conceal his kidnapping and torturing of Ottar from his family and work colleagues, particularly when his activities begin to affect his ability to perform in operations. Yet, the only character to become suspicious is the police detective Birna (Guðrún Sesselja Arnardóttir), who faces opposition in her determination to prosecute Finnur. Including some more suspicion from Finnur’s wife and the hospital he works at would make the situation more believable.

That issue aside, The Oath is a taut and intense thriller that further establishes Kormakur as Iceland’s most prolific commercial filmmaker.