Copyright Ars Technica
Netflix’s international offerings include some entertaining Norwegian fare, such as the series Ragnarok (2020-2023), a surprisingly engaging reworking of Norse mythology brought into the 21st century that ran for three seasons. Another enjoyable offering was a 2022 monster movie called Troll, essentially a Norwegian take on the classic Godzilla formula. Netflix just dropped a trailer for the sequel, Troll 2, which looks to be very much in the same vein as its predecessor. (Spoilers for the first Troll movie below.) Don’t confuse the Netflix franchise with 2010’s Trollhunter, shot in the style of a found footage mockumentary. A group of college students sets off into the wilds of the fjord land to make a documentary about a suspected bear poacher named Hans. They discover that Hans is actually hunting down trolls and decide to document those endeavors instead, but soon realize they are very much out of their depth. Writer/director André Øvredal infused Trollhunter with the driest of wit and myriad references to Norwegian culture, especially its folklore and fairy tales surrounding trolls. There are woodland trolls and mountain trolls, some with tails, some with multiple heads. They turn to stone when exposed to sunlight—which is why one of the troll hunters carries around a powerful UV lamp—and mostly eat rocks but can develop a taste for human flesh, and they can smell the blood of a Christian. Directed by Roar Uthaug, the first Troll film is based on the same mythology. It had great action sequences and special effects and didn’t take itself too seriously. A young girl named Nora grows up with the mythology of Norwegian trolls turned to stone buried in the local mountains. An adult Nora (Ine Marie Wilmann), now a paleontologist, teams up with a government advisor, Andreas (Kim S. Falck-Jørgensen), and a military captain, Kris (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen), to take out a troll that has been rampaging across Norway, charting a path of destruction toward the heavily populated city of Oslo. Spoiler alert: the marauding troll ultimately dies, but not before Nora and her team learn more about the underlying history behind its behavior that makes them more sympathetic to the monster. That film ended with a clear hint that more trolls might be hibernating deep in Norway’s mountains. Troll was successful enough for Netflix to greenlight a sequel, also directed by Uthaug and featuring the same three main cast members. Per the official synopsis: When a dangerous new troll is awakened, unleashing devastation across Norway, beloved adventurers Nora, Andreas, and Captain Kris are thrust into their most perilous mission yet. To stop the creature’s ruthless rampage, they must enlist new allies and delve into the country’s ancient history, searching for answers. As the clock ticks and the troll’s path of destruction grows wider, our heroes face impossible odds in their fight to save their homeland from falling into darkness. The trailer pretty much gives away the entire plot. One of those “new allies” is another friendly troll that clearly has some kind of grudge against the latest rampaging evil troll, hurtling toward a big showdown between the two. Yep, Troll 2 is Norway’s answer to Godzilla vs. Kong, and it looks to be just as entertaining as the first film. As one of the characters declares in the trailer, “Everyone loves sequels.” Troll 2 starts streaming on Netflix on December 1, 2025.
