Rarely is a Netflix Top 10 list as surprising as it is today The Norwegian World War II film "Narvik" has become a bit of a success after only two days in the war zone And Narvik is not the name of a character in the film

Narvik is a town in the Norwegian province of Norrland It is located on a peninsula, and its importance here can be quickly explained by my history-loving friends

In any case, "Narvik" is a new Netflix release that was released on Monday (January 23) and today (Wednesday, January 25) it debuted at the top of the movie charts Yes, it's not just the international charts; Netflix (which offers three of the best Oscar movies with over 90% streaming on Rotten Tomatoes) also has Narvik at the top of the US charts

This is an impressive feat considering that Rotten Tomatoes' review aggregation site only had two reviews (positive ones, mind you) associated with the film at the time of its release But it doesn't answer the question of whether or not you should watch "NARVIK" tonight So let's see

The Battle of Narvik took place in June 1940, when Adolf Hitler's forces invaded neutral Norway And the "Narvik" film focuses on a personal story within a larger geopolitical issue It is the story of Corporal Gunnar Tofte (Karl-Martin Eggesbo), who went to war to fight the Nazis [At the same time, his wife Ingrid (Kristine Hartgen) is forced to work for the Nazis as a translator There is a boy, Ole (Christoph Gerfeldt Mathiesen), whom Gunnar's father Aslak (Stig Henrik Hoff) takes care of As we have noticed, "Narvik" is the surprising No 1 film on Netflix in the United States This is because it does not even have an official trailer with English subtitles

But while Ingrid works for the Germans, she betrays them when she provides intelligence and other vital help to the British consul

As noted above, "Narvik" basically appears in the shadows at night, with few reviews explaining its merits Nevertheless, we have found a few, but their impressions are not uniform

MN Miller of ReadySteadyCut (opens in new tab) wrote, "Erik Skjoldbrug's film is a brilliant war movie, naturally gripping and above average in its moral dilemmas Along with solid performances from Eggesbo, Hartin, and the charming Henrik Mestad, "Narvik" is a war film worth streaming

In Decider (opens in new tab), John Selva praises Hartgen, writing that her performance is "excellent" and that she is "fully capable of holding Narvik together and maintaining emotional involvement"

Other coverage we found came from less accomplished news organizations

Sourav Chakraborty of Sportskeeda (open in new tab) was not satisfied with the film and wrote, "The film aimed to be realistic and composed, but the director failed to put equal emphasis on the characters and plot of the film and failed in its execution and failed in its execution" He wrote

Roger Moore of the blog Movie Nation (opens in new tab) is positive about the film, writing, "Skjoldbjærg, who directed the Norwegian thrillers 'Pioneer' and 'Pyromaniac,' has managed to create maximum suspense from the standoff, from the gunfire fights and draws visceral action from tense attempts to dynamite a bridge The measure of a combat thriller director is how he directs the harrowing task of "destroying a nest of machine guns," and Skjoldbjærg pulls it off with ease"

Narvik's success on Netflix in the US proves that the love of war movies and dramas is stronger than the declining resistance to watching movies with subtitles According to the reviews we found, war movie lovers are encouraged to watch Narvik, but should consider stopping if they don't connect with the characters

Also, having seen a bit of "NARVIK" myself, one thing is for sure: "NARVIK" should be seen in its original Norwegian language The dubbed English is a bit wooden and rough, and doesn't really match the visuals At this point, I'm not sure if it will be one of the best Netflix films