Pioneer

Remember this name: Aksel Hennie. If “Pioneer,” a mixed bag
of a conspiracy thriller, works at all, it largely does so because of him.
Hennie, now into his second decade as an actor in Norwegian film (he’s also
written and directed a feature) gives a spectacular performance as Petter, a
deep-sea diver on an oil rig who becomes something of a scapegoat after a mishap
that takes the life of his brother and leaves him searching for truth.

At the movie’s opening, Petter and brother Knut are all
diving bravado. Working with a team that includes some American oil-and-diving
consultants and laborers (portrayed by the likes of Wes Bentley and Stephen
Lang), Petter and Knut are excited to hit new depths as they work to create an
oil-money payday for themselves and their country’s economy. “That’s one small
step for a man,” Knut proclaims in English on reaching a particular plateau.
Their swagger doesn’t last long, and Petter, after failing to save his brother,
has to sit in a decompression chamber for an unconscionably long time. Once
he’s out, he’s convinced the accident occurred because his oxygen feed was cut.
He’s told that he’s mistaken, and he ought to accept his part in what happened
and let it lie. He won’t.