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27 Photos. Mogens Hagedorn is an editor turned director. He has been the editor of several Danish feature films, including the box office hits "The One and Only" (1999), "Solkongen" (2005) and "Clash of Egos" (2006). As a director he is known for "Timetrip - the Curse of the Viking Witch" (2009), an action adventure which had its North American ...
- January 1, 1
- 2 min
- København, Denmark
- Norse mythology with a twist comes to Netflix.
- Netflix's Ragnarok: Season 1 Gallery
- Verdict
By Kambole Campbell
Posted: Feb 10, 2020 11:16 pm
This is a mostly spoiler-free review of the first season of Netflix's Ragnarok, which is currently available to stream globally.
With a plethora of Norse mythology across contemporary pop culture, it’s miraculous that Netflix’s Ragnarok has any surprises in it at all. Through no fault of its own, the show from writer Adam Price and director Mogens Hagedorn is operating on the back foot from the very beginning, as anyone with even a passing interest in this mythology will put things together quickly, thanks to the general popularity of Marvel’s Thor films and even video games like God of War. What Ragnarok does have going for it is its concept, caught between American Gods, Riverdale, and Todd Haynes’ latest film Dark Waters, with a bold mixture of teen drama, grotesque depictions of ancient religion, and anxiety and fear over the climate crisis and environmental degradation.
While the broad strokes of the narrative are exciting and peculiar, the details of the characters are a bit more clumsy - Magne’s characterization mostly established through what other people say about him, his isolation, and his learning difficulty. The most we get from Stakston’s screen presence is that Magne is the quiet and righteous type, preferring to hang out with the more unpopular kids like himself, such as Isolde (Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin), a young climate change activist who clashes with local business leader Vidar (Gísli Örn Garðarsson), head of the local Jutul family and typically sleazy venture capitalist running one of Norway’s biggest companies.
It very quickly becomes clear that the "Ragnarok" of this story is climate change, which lines up extremely well with the traditional depiction of the Norse Apocalypse, the death of the gods, and the submerging of the earth due to the work of the giants. Better still, it positions the real “enemies of civilization,” as the rich - the adults that have been ruining the world for their own gain, now suppressing the new generation that wants to try and undo the damage, or approaching it with selfish apathy. The giants no longer need violence to thwart those who would oppose them, because they control every system of authority in the area, using it to suppress and demonize activists. It makes for a surprisingly strong and urgent message about fighting for the preservation of our environment, against those who would gut it in the selfish pursuit of capital. It’s a pertinent setup that makes so much sense that it’s a surprise it hasn’t been done sooner – details like Norse prophecies of the apocalypse occurring due to the moral negligence of man and god are eerily fitting.
With all this, the show should feel more timely, but it's undermined by some pretty archaic (and honestly, inadvertently funny) touches, like an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt or a series of slightly embarrassing needle drops (the season is bookended by M83’s “Outro,” which has been played out for at least half a decade now). These decisions aren't based in a kind of nostalgic timelessness in the same sense as something like Riverdale, it simply feels archaic, which is odd for a show so concerned with ancient and forgotten history. That said, it does share some similarities with that show's often salacious and highly stylized depiction of high school.
The young-adult part of Ragnarok can be fairly compelling in this respect, Magne’s quiet sensibility clashing with the brasher members of his peer group, such as Fjor (Herman Tømmeraas), who might have the season’s most complicated personal arc. The rest of his family, the Jutuls, are great to watch as they become more wild and adversarial with every episode. Magne’s isolation often works as a hindrance to Stakston’s performance, working best when bouncing off the likes of his study partner Gry (Emma Bones) and his tricky, dark-haired brother Laurits (Jonas Strand Gravli), who holds more gothic taste and ambiguous motives, quietly undermining Magne at school and at home.
For more on what's new to Netflix in February 2020, check out the video below:
The show sometimes struggles to dig into the psychology of any of the characters, which would be fine if Ragnarok's priority was the spectacle, but it’s not. Ragnarok leans on its most interesting idea, a retooling of traditional myth into an exploration of the relationship between capitalism and the environment, through the lens of a teen drama. The town of Edda (actually Odda, Norway) is an insular location where everyone either knows everyone or is related to them, the area itself feeling contained by its surroundings of intimidating mountain peaks. In fairness, Price and Hagedorn manage their share of strange and unsettling imagery, with glimpses of morbid occult practices reminiscent of Vikings. Throughout the season, the most powerful imagery is the constant contrast between the human industry and towering mountains, rushing rivers and grand forests, the plumes of smoke rising from the factories appearing as a persistent threat.
Netflix's Ragnarok: Season 1 has a fairly shaky grip on its tone, but the YA drama works well in tandem with its smart adaptation of Norse myth, even if it doesn’t quite stick the landing in the end.
- Kambole Campbell
Aug 9, 2023 · The upcoming third season is directed by Mogens Hagedorn, who had previously directed select episodes of Ragnarök Season 2, as well as of Borgen, Pros and Cons, and Anna Pihl.
- Maddie P
- Senior Resource Writer
Mogens Hagedorn is an editor turned director. He has been the editor of several Danish feature films, including the box office hits "The One and Only" (1999), "Solkongen" (2005) and "Clash of Egos" (2006). As a director he is known for "Timetrip - the Curse of the Viking Witch" (2009), an action adventure which had its North American premiere ...
Sep 20, 2023 · The director of the series, Mogens Hagedorn, wrote on Instagram, "[Magne's] fantasy is based on real events, but he molds them to fit into his Norse Mythology fantasy. So he must have had some ...
Sep 4, 2020 · The six-episode drama is written by award-winning writer Adam Price (Borgen, Ragnarok s1) and Emilie Lebech Kaae and will be directed by Mogens Hagedorn. Ragnarok is a coming-of-age drama building on, and contributing to, a new and surprising angle on Norse mythology. The second season will pick up where the first season left: What do you do ...
Aug 3, 2023 · Entertainment. 03 August 2023. Global Norway. Link copied to clipboard. Netflix has released the trailer for the highly awaited third season of Ragnarok. As an epic final battle of gods against giants draws near, Magne's fortitude will face its ultimate trial. The third - and final - season of Ragnarok will premiere on Netflix on August 24, 2023.
