Skip to main content
Utoya: surviving hell
MARIA DUARTE believes the singular focus on the resilience of the victims is both edifying and a blow to fascists

Utoya – July 22 (15)
Directed by Erik Poppe

THIS is the second film in two weeks dealing with the 2011 Utoya massacre, but, unlike Paul Greengrass's version, this unfolds in real time, seemingly in one take, as it depicts the harrowing gunning down of 69 young people on the Norwegian island entirely from their perspective.

Although the characters are fictional the film is based on detailed accounts from many of the real survivors.

What this reconstruction captures is the horror, the panic, the confusion and the terror those youngsters underwent at the hands of far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik, when he hunted them down at Labour's youth league summer camp dressed as a police officer.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Treading Water / Pic: IMDb
Film of the week / 24 April 2025
24 April 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends a tough love story that unfolds among mental health issues, drug addiction and inadequate housing

THE PERILS OF INTERNET DATING: (L) Ruaridh Mollica in Sebast
Cinema / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF PORT TALBOT, BUT: Toby Jones and
Film of the week / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a drama that explores the formative years of Richard Burton’s life
FATAL TIES: Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in Black B
Film of the week / 13 March 2025
13 March 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a deliciously dark thriller that explores the complex loyalties within a marriage
Similar stories
London Recruits
Film of the week / 28 November 2024
28 November 2024
MARIA DUARTE recommends a documentary that reconstructs the part played by white activists in the struggle against apartheid
No Other Land
Film of the week / 7 November 2024
7 November 2024
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an unlikely tale of friendship between an Israeli and a Palestinian in the midst of West Bank ethnic cleansing
Germany's Alexandra Popp celebrates scoring their side's fir
Women's Football / 30 September 2024
30 September 2024
(L) Juliette Gariepy in Red Rooms; (R) Morfydd Clark in Star
Cinema / 5 September 2024
5 September 2024
Yorkshire chills, tangled in the dark web, pregnancy diaries and brackish juice: MARIA DUARTE reviews Starve Acre, Red Rooms, My First Film and Beetlejuice