🎬 The Hanging Sun (2022)
Based on novel
The Hanging Sun is a 2022 Italian-British noir thriller directed by Francesco Carrozzini, adapting Jo Nesbø's 2015 novel Midnight Sun. The film stars Alessandro Borghi as John, a hitman on the run from his crime boss father, who hides in a remote, religiously strict village in northern Norway. There he meets Lea (Jessica Brown Findlay) and her son Caleb, forming a fragile family bond while evading his brother's pursuit. The adaptation shifts the setting from Nesbø's original Norwegian landscape to a more generic northern European location, but retains the novel's core themes of guilt, isolation, and the search for redemption.
Carrozzini's film premiered as the closing film of the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September 2022, receiving mixed reviews. Critics praised the performances of Borghi and Findlay, as well as the cinematography capturing the eerie midnight sun, but some felt the pacing was slower than the source novel. The screenplay, co-written by Ludovica Rampoldi and Stefano Sardo, streamlines Nesbø's plot, focusing more on the emotional dynamics between the characters than the crime thriller elements. The cast also includes Charles Dance as Jacob, a mysterious elder in the village, and Peter Mullan as the protagonist's father.
This adaptation is part of a trend of Nesbø's works being brought to screen, following the Harry Hole series adaptations like The Snowman (2017). Unlike those films, The Hanging Sun is a co-production between Sky Studios, Cattleya, and Groenlandia, aiming for a more intimate, character-driven approach. While Nesbø's novel is the second in the 'Blood on Snow' series, the film stands alone, with no direct connections to the first book's adaptation. The title itself references the perpetual daylight of the Arctic summer, a key atmospheric element in both the book and film.
Midnight Sun is a 2015 crime novel by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø, published as the second installment in his 'Blood on Snow' series. The story follows a hitman named Jon who, after betraying his crime boss, flees to a remote village in northern Norway where the sun never sets during summer. There he seeks refuge among a strict religious community and forms a bond with a woman and her son, leading to a tense exploration of redemption and escape. The novel is known for its stark, atmospheric setting and lean, noir-influenced prose, reflecting Nesbø's shift from his more sprawling Harry Hole series.
The book was originally published in Norway by Aschehoug and later translated into English by Neil Smith. It received positive reviews for its taut pacing and evocative depiction of the Norwegian landscape, though some critics noted its brevity compared to Nesbø's longer works. Midnight Sun has been praised for its psychological depth and moral ambiguity, cementing Nesbø's reputation as a versatile crime writer beyond his flagship series.