Lake Of Death (2019)
Lake Of Death
Written by Noah Dietz: 5/13/2026
We’re back with another film off Shudder, and I’ve got some very mixed feelings on it. Lake Of Death (De dødes tjern) is a bit of an aimless, but nice to look at, film. To me, this is a clear case of needing to consider more than just great settings and good camera work when making a movie. Suffering from a story that never manages to come together in a meaningful way, you could be tricked into thinking this was a better film than it was. The outdoor shots are all gorgeous — you can’t help but feel like the world you’re living in is very alive and real — but that doesn’t make up for the lack of coherent story. Attempts at haunting visuals fall to long scenes of friends just shooting the shit together and referencing other, better, films. Is it a haunted lake? Is it a malicious ghost from the past? Is it the ghost of a dead relative? Is it a little bit of all three? It’s hard to really say, and the film does what it can to keep these points blurry in the name of exploring an unreliable narrator.
Structurally, this movie is a little confused. Almost an hour into the film, we get a scene featuring a song by Blue Öyster Cult, drugs, and alcohol. It would have been a great first-night scene, something that is used to set the tone for the whole film. Rather than the pretty-to-look-at-but-tedious experience we get, the entire opening hour could have been condensed into a much more cohesive section that would leave room for larger exploration of the story later. Placing this scene after a full hour of generally serious film with the occasional jokes just left me annoyed rather than serving as a late-stage boost to what we had. The experience is better after this point, but all that does is highlight how little the rest of the movie leaves an impact on the general enjoyment of the story. It’s hard to care about a lot of this after sitting through the first two-thirds of a film that languishes with minimal identity. By the time we closed out, I was finding it difficult to convey what the greater plot of the film even was, as so many half-hinted ideas had been thrown around at us by the time we closed the experience out.
I fear this is a trap many filmmakers exploring more dreamlike narratives can fall into earlier in their careers. To establish things aren’t as they should be, they’ll have a sort of shot they return to that is meant as a moment of elevation. The shot of the doorframe leading into a black void isn’t really something that makes a lot of sense to include here in the specific scene it bookends. The shot of the twisted stump after Lillian (Iben Akerlie) and Gabriel (Jonathan Harboe) speak outside makes more sense, but bookending a scene where almost nothing happens with both of those shots feels like an artificial attempt to increase tension at a point that just has a semicasual conversation. It feels like a misplaced attempt at artistry that the rest of the film doesn’t quite rise to. Coupled with slow-motion shots and dream sequences that feel more confusing than compelling, and we slowly inch our way to an ending that feels just as confused as the rest.
A lot of pieces of a great film are here. It’s gorgeous to look at, and the location they filmed on is astoundingly beautiful. Where things fall apart is the story ending on a note that I can’t help but feel is a twist for the sake of a twist. One last gotcha in a field of attempted gotchas leading into a quick moment of passing through the film's setpieces, attempting to serve yet another twist before the credits roll. I wouldn’t say this is something to pass on, but be aware the story might not land for you as it didn’t for me.
Film: Lake Of Death (De dødes tjern)
Director: Nini Bull Robsahm
Writer: Nini Bull Robsahm
Release Year: 2019
Rating: 1.5/5
A beautiful film that never quite says anything, Lake Of Death spends 95 minutes of your time only to leave you frustrated.