PIONEER is a retro-feel Norwegian thriller about deep sea diving, particularly the laying of a huge pipeline by a transnational American-owned company. The film has a small scale feel to it, no doubt necessitated by the low budget, so that most of the action consists of a group of men sitting around in a decompression chamber. That's not to say that the film isn't worthwhile, because in many respects it's engrossing and at times gripping.

Much of the production's strength comes from the casting of Aksel Hennie, something of a natural when it comes to thrillers having already made HEADHUNTERS and MAX MANUS: MAN OF WAR. This film isn't quite as good as those two, but Hennie is; he's brilliant, in fact. The story draws in the usual conspiracy angles involving imported American actors Wes Bentley and Stephen Lang in somewhat familiar roles, but the sense of tension is palpable and the story is low key but engaging. It's not the type of film that's going to set the world on fire, but it is worth a watch if you're looking for something other than slap-bang entertainment.

This thriller is set in the early eighties; oil has been discovered in Norwegian waters but getting it ashore won't be easy as construction of the pipeline will require divers to work at unprecedented depths. As they prepare for test dives Norwegian divers are working alongside Americans, whose company has developed a secret gas mix that makes diving at such depths possible. This is vividly demonstrated in an early scene where Norwegian divers using regular air in a test chamber start hallucinating while an American in a separate chamber is fine.

When the first dive starts something goes very wrong for brothers Petter and Knut Jensen. An accident leaves Knut dead and Petter wants answers. He is told that he made a briefly blacked out so made a mistake but he doesn't accept this explanation; especially when told that there is no recording of the video feed. He starts his own investigation that initially centres on the man in the diving bell who was supervising the air feed but later switching to trying to discover just what the 'secret ingredient' in the American gas mix is… something the company has no intention of telling him as the Norwegian government would have no reason to grant them a contract if they knew the secret so could do the work without outside help.

I really enjoyed this taut thriller; the scenes underwater were very tense… even before things go wrong the situation is compared to walking on the moon. Once the accident happens the investigation is interesting; it makes a change to have an ordinary person carrying out an investigation rather than a police officer or private investigator. Petter's investigations raise several suspects and it looks as if somebody is willing to kill to stop him finding out after a contact 'accidentally overdoses'. There is also the possibility that those trying to stop him are working to protect a valuable business secret rather than cover up the cause of the accident. During the film there are plenty of tense moments as Petter gets into various potentially dangerous situations. The cast does a solid job; most notably Aksel Hennie who is rarely off screen in the role of Petter. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to those wanting a tense thriller that isn't reliant on non-stop action.

Inspired by true events, and set in the 1970's, this Norwegian drama seems to lack punch in the way it is presented and stretches credibility at times. However, it did hold my interest enough to want to know how it would all turn out.

The plot revolves around a huge oil and gas discovery in the North Sea, off the Norwegian coast, which could bring enormous wealth to Norway if a way can be found to lay a pipeline along the sea floor, which would transport the oil and gas to land.

It's unknown, however, whether divers working at those severe depths can survive. Thus, working jointly with America, teams of divers from both countries will undergo testing as to whether this engineering feat will be possible.

One of the Norwegian divers is Petter, portrayed by Aksel Hennie, who, on one dive, will black out momentarily thus failing to shut off a valve and lead to the death of his brother, working alongside him. When Petter finally emerges from the required decompression, he is driven to do anything he can to find out what really happened on the dive.

Petter will begin to realize that there are nefarious forces at work here and the conspiracy to cover-up the event reach far beyond what he could imagine. The projected profits are so great from this venture, that the actions of the conspirators will eventually lead to murder and mayhem.

In summary, this film, directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg, I thought might have been presented in a way where the tension was heightened more formidably, but I still found it fairly absorbing and interesting enough to maintain my interest to the end.