Outside views · Europe
10 Best Movies Set in or About Iceland
Compare how outside filmmakers have used Iceland as a sustained setting or subject.
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Compare the route at a glance
Runtime, mood, and entry level help narrow the list without replacing the editorial ranking.
| Film | Runtime | Genre | Mood | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Not verified | |||
| The Outlaw and His Wife | Not verified | |||
| The Northman | Not verified | |||
| The Importance of Being Icelandic | Not verified | |||
| Salka Valka | Not verified | |||
| Der Island-Krimi: Der Tote im Westfjord | Not verified | |||
| The Noise of Engines | Not verified | |||
| Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga | Not verified | |||
| Iceland Is Best | Not verified | |||
| Iceland: Land of Ice and Fire | Not verified |
10 Movies Set in or About Iceland
Foreign-led films whose sustained setting or subject remains centered on Iceland.
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1. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
A timid magazine photo editor who escapes his drab life through elaborate daydreams is finally jolted into a real adventure — across Greenland, Iceland, and the Himalayas — when a crucial photo negative goes missing. A whimsical, heartfelt comedy.
Why & details
Curator’s note: An American film whose longest and most transformative travel movement occurs across Iceland.
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2. The Outlaw and His Wife
A mysterious farmhand and a widowed Icelandic landowner fall in love, but when he is exposed as a thief on the run, the two flee into the mountains to live as outlaws, their bond tested by the brutal wilderness. Victor Sjöström's silent epic.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A canonical Swedish silent adaptation of an Icelandic play and outlaw legend.
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3. The Northman
In the Viking age, a prince whose father was murdered and mother stolen by his usurping uncle grows into a fearsome warrior consumed by a vow of vengeance. Robert Eggers's brutal, hallucinatory epic rooted in Norse legend.
Why & details
Curator’s note: An American-led saga deeply engaged with Icelandic settlement, landscape, and Norse culture.
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4. The Importance of Being Icelandic
This documentary follows three Icelandic-Canadians as they travel to Iceland to reconnect with their heritage, in a wry, personal exploration of roots and identity.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A Canadian outsider documentary exploring Icelandic identity at home and in the diaspora.
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5. Salka Valka
In a small Icelandic fishing village, a resilient young woman rises from poverty to become a fishing-boat partner and a force in her community, navigating love and hardship along the way. Adapted from Halldór Laxness's novel.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A Swedish adaptation of Halldór Laxness's Icelandic social novel.
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6. Der Island-Krimi: Der Tote im Westfjord
A successful Icelandic crime novelist — struggling for inspiration in a country with barely any real murders — is pulled into an actual killing in the remote West Fjords. A German-made mystery.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A German crime feature built around an outsider investigator and an Icelandic Westfjords community.
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7. The Noise of Engines
Placed on forced leave and returning to his small Quebec hometown, a customs-college instructor strikes up an odd friendship with a visiting Icelandic drag racer as he becomes the target of a bizarre local investigation. A deadpan absurdist comedy.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A Canadian outsider film substantially built around Icelandic travel and imagined escape.
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8. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Two hopelessly earnest small-town Icelandic musicians improbably land a shot at their lifelong dream of competing at the Eurovision Song Contest, where scheming rivals and onstage disasters test their friendship. A goofy, good-natured musical comedy.
Why & details
Curator’s note: An American comedy built around fictional Icelandic musicians and a sustained outsider caricature of Iceland.
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9. Iceland Is Best
A seventeen-year-old girl yearning to leave her small Icelandic town and make it to California navigates family, dreams, and the pull of home. A gentle coming-of-age drama.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A British coming-of-age film centered on an Icelandic village and the competing pull of departure and home.
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10. Iceland: Land of Ice and Fire
This documentary explores Iceland's dramatic geology, wildlife, and the ways its people have adapted to life on a volcanic island of glaciers and eruptions. A sweeping natural portrait.
Why & details
Curator’s note: A British feature documentary devoted to Iceland's geology, wildlife, and human adaptation.
Hear the country first
10 Best Icelandic Movies to Watch First
Start with films made from within Iceland, then follow the country's own creative voice through the complete ranking.
- Woman at War 2018
- Rams 2015
- Virgin Mountain 2015
Selected by the FilmsAroundThe.World editorial desk
Selections require an outside creative lead and a story or subject substantially centered on Iceland. Decision labels are concise editorial aids, and content notes are non-exhaustive. Read the methodology.
Editorial review: 2026-07-13
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