The Quake

"The Wave was only the beginning"

2018 1h 46m NO

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 845

ActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

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A geologist races against time to save his estranged wife and two children when a devastating earthquake strikes Oslo, Norway.

“The Wave was only the beginning”

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Cast

Kristoffer Joner
Kristian Eikjord
Ane Dahl Torp
Idun Karlsen
Jonas Hoff Oftebro
Sondre Eikjord
Edith Haagenrud-Sande
Julia Eikjord
Kathrine Thorborg Johansen
Marit Lindblom
Fredrik Skavlan
Himself
Stig R. Amdam
Johannes Løberg
Catrin Sagen
Hotel Worker

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Andreas Andersen
Writers: Harald Rosenløw-Eeg, John Kåre Raake
Languages: Norwegian
Countries: Norway

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 8 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Wave / Quake Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Andreas Andersen, shot by John Christian Rosenlund. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Johannes Ringen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Christian Siebenherz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kristoffer Joner and Ane Dahl Torp and Jonas Hoff Oftebro carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Wave was only the beginning".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt6523720 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Andreas Andersen directs. John Christian Rosenlund behind the camera. Johannes Ringen scores. Christian Siebenherz cuts. Produced in Norway. Dialogue in Norwegian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 8 years ago.
2Part of the "Wave / Quake Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by John Andreas Andersen, shot by John Christian Rosenlund. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Johannes Ringen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Christian Siebenherz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Kristoffer Joner and Ane Dahl Torp and Jonas Hoff Oftebro carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The Wave was only the beginning".
8IMDB entry: tt6523720 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "affectation", "earthquake", "disaster", "geologist".
10Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Christian Rosenlund
Original score: Johannes Ringen
Editing: Christian Siebenherz
Production design: Jørgen Stangebye Larsen
Costume design: Anne Pedersen
Makeup / hair: Dimitra Drakopoulou
Sound: Tormod Ringnes
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,300,000
Original language: NO
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Quake (2018)

Awards

Kanon People's Choice Award
The Amanda Public Choice Award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Wave / Quake Collection

Norwegian disaster movies about the Eikjord Family

Also by

John Andreas Andersen

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2023-11-22
★ 6/10
An imitation of American cinema that comes from Norway. Disaster films are one of those classics that cinema has used us to, mainly due to the dramatic and bloated Hollywood films. This film is not American, it comes from freezing Norway, but all the melodramatic and emphatic language of US cinema is present throughout the film. I confess that I was a little surprised to see a Norwegian film about a devastating earthquake. I'm not a geologist, but I don't associate the danger of the most intense earthquakes with Norway. The country, naturally, suffers some moderate earthquakes every year and, in fact, a more intense event was recorded at the beginning of the 20th century, in which the capital was seriously affected. However, the Norwegian earthquakes are tickles when compared to those that shake Turkey, China, India and the Atlantic and Hawaiian archipelagos. The Oslo earthquake, which the film talks about, did not even reach an intensity of 6 on the Richter Scale, that is, it was weaker than the recent earthquake in Marrakesh and does not even compare to the presumed 9 that, in 1755, devastated Lisbon and significant parts of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. In any case, the film is reasonably good and entertains us satisfactorily. I didn't see the previous film nor did I know it existed, although I suspected it when I saw some scenes at the beginning, a suspicion that I clarified when documenting myself to write this text. Naturally, being my first contact with Norwegian cinema, I didn't know the director John Andreas Andersen nor do I know any of the actors. However, what I saw pleased me: Andersen shows himself to be a disciple of US cinema and draws inspiration from films like “Volcano”, “Dante's Peak” and “Daylight” in a way that is so evident that it seems like a collage. The script copies elements from these different films and gives us an almost identical story, based on the hero's attempts to warn of an imminent catastrophe despite the deafness of the competent authorities to deal with it. However, the film has strength, drama, soul and movement, avoiding dead moments and making almost no concessions to cheap melodrama. The worst part is seeing that Andersen was unable to create a closed ending, leaving his characters hanging in danger without us knowing how they ended the day. Perhaps more relevant than anything else, including the performance of each of the actors, is the excellent introduction and use of visual effects and CGI, which give us what we are looking for in a film of this kind: chaos, destruction and danger. The film manages to take advantage of the effects to create good dramatic tension and a convincing sense of danger. The actors, of course, are a welcomed help: although Edith Haagenruud-Sande has an irritating character who seems to act without any conscience in the face of danger, the protagonist, Kristoffer Joner, is solid enough to transform his hero into someone sympathetic. Less fortunate were the two actresses Ane Dahl Torp and Kathrine Johansen: despite all their efforts, which I recognize, their characters are left here, creating the illusion of a potential love triangle that never materializes. I also didn't like Jonas Oftebro's character, an actor who doesn't seem solid or consistent either: his character's father shows up unexpectedly when he was going out with his girlfriend, and he is unable to tell the little princess “be patient, we'll go out later; at least, I’m going to serve my dad's a hot coffee and listen to what he wants”? What a beautiful son!

Production companies