This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film Against the Ice, so will contain major spoilers.
In 1909, explorers Ejnar Mikkelsen (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) and Iver Iversen (Joe Cole) set off on a discovery expedition in an ice-covered Greenland, only to find that it marks the start of a much larger fight for survival against the elements and themselves when they are abandoned by the rest of their crew.
Upon their return to their ship following their expedition, Ejnar and Iver discover that the rest of their crew have long since headed back home to Denmark, leaving behind them two huts formed from the ship’s body and all of their unused supplies. Little do they know that these little improvised huts are to become their home for the next few years when luck fails to fall in their favor on multiple occasions.
As the time passes, Ejnar begins to unravel — a result of cabin fever and the guilt he feels for dragging Iver into this situation off the back of decisions he himself made. He starts to see visions of his lover from back home, and it comes down to Iver to look out for the both of them so that they might stand a chance of living long enough to see the arrival of a rescue crew. What was initially a battle against nature has become a battle against time. Given the fact that their crew left roughly a year’s worth of supplies behind them when they departed the ship, and that well over two years have passed since then, it seems likely that resources will run out before help arrives.
However, nearly three years after they first set off on their journey, Ejnar and Iver’s luck takes a positive turn. What they think is another polar bear attack is actually the arrival of a rescue crew, and the two finally make it home, relatively unscathed despite everything, where they are honored by the country for their work in Greenland.
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