Thale is a Norwegian film based on Norwegian folklore about a forest creature called a hulder set in the 21st century. I don’t know much about hulders, but they look like women except they have cow tails. Thale follows two crime scene cleaners, Leo and Elvis, who stumble upon a mysterious woman, the titular character, who is found in a cluttered basement in the woods. Both men are struggling with a personal crisis and are polar opposites in how they deal with the extraordinary situation. Elvis is incompetent and jumpy whereas Leo is impervious to the unexpected. Both wonder if they have stumbled on a kidnap victim, but Thale clearly has the physical upper hand even though she is naked and frightened. Their discovery sets off a chain of events that will change their lives forever.
Thale has an interesting premise, an intriguing backstory and brief but excellent action scenes, but because Elvis annoyed me, and he is in the majority of Thale, I did not enjoy it. He messes everything up, is incapable of following instructions and acts like grown kid. Without Elvis, there is no movie, and that is an unfortunate reality. I preferred Leo who can handle anything, but was still in over his head in this situation. Thale does not get as much screen time as I would like. Just as she was getting interesting, Thale ended. I know there will be a sequel, but unless it mainly focuses on the titular character, Thale’s sequel will be just as disappointing as the initial installment.
Thale references the intriguing premise of the seemingly vulnerable girl with powers as Serenity/Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer who must fight against various conspiracies to capture or kill her, but does not follow through adequately by giving its most interesting character more screen time or devoting more time to this struggle. Instead Thale is more intrigued with tackling the every man’s reaction to the supernatural and other immense forces interrupting his ordinary life. If you dig movies inspired by folklore or supernatural themes and don’t mind subtitles, check out Thale, but it is not as awesome as you may imagine.