After giving us 'The Witch' and 'The Lighthouse,' his latest movie is a two hour 17 minutes blood and guts Norse epic that is certainly not for the lily livered.
Based on the Scandinavian legend of Amleth, viewers will be struck by the story's similarity to 'Hamlet'.
That's because Shakespeare's tragedy is indeed based on the myth that also inspires Eggers' film.
It is a tale of revenge that was first brought to international attention by the 16th Century French poet, Francois de Belleforest.
The story of Amleth was first adapted for the London stage in a production known as the 'UrHamlet' either by Shakespeare or Thomas Kyd in a version that no longer exists.
However it is believed to have inspired the Shakespeare play we know today
Eggers and the Icelandic poet and lyricist Sjon decided to bring the original story to the big screen after originally being engaged by the film's Swedish star Alexander Skarsgard about making a Viking epic.
Shot in Counties Antrim and Down in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Irish Republic, the result is one of the most bonkers sword and shield epics ever committed to the screen.
It is also one of the bloodiest.
At the start of Eggers' film, we see Oscar Novak's excited young version of Amleth in AD 859 rushing to tell his mum, Nicole Kidman's Queen Gudrun that his father is about to return from another successful Viking conquest.
As Ethan Hawke's King Aurvandill War Raven rides triumphantly through their fort, a banquet in his honour is prepared.
Aurvandill's brother Claes Bang's Fjolnir eventually lands and attends the banquet where the King and Queen drink to his bravery - the latter handing him her goblet.
But when Willem Dafoe's fool and he-witch Heimir quips that Gudrun wants Fjolnir to share her bed, he is publicly rebuked.
After the celebration, Aurvandill tells Gudrun he is concerned that Amleth is not ready to take over the throne should anything happen to him.
He, therefore, insists on putting the boy through a hallucinatory rite of passage that is literally underground.
It involves them crawling about on all fours in front of Heimir and howling like wolves to the pounding of a drum.
When they emerge the following morning, Aurvandill is struck by arrows in an ambush, with Amleth running for cover.
The young boy soon realises Fjolnir is responsible and he watches his uncle behead the King and seize the throne.
Fjolnir orders his men to ransack the fort and find Amleth and put him to the sword.
The boy manages to escape after witnessing his mother being carried away in a state of hysteria by his uncle.
Fjolnir is left with the impression that Amleth has died.
However Amleth flees in a boat, chanting as he rows: "I will avenge you, father. I will save you, mother. I will kill you, Fjolnir."
Years later, Amleth is part of a Viking horde that is raiding a village in eastern Europe while dressed as wolves.
In a brutal sequence, a lot of the men defending the village are slaughtered, some of the women are separated from their children who are shoved into a cottage which is set alight.
In the aftermath of the pillage, Amleth stumbles across Bjork's Seeress who immediately knows his true identity.
She predicts he will soon have a chance to avenge his father's deatb and kill Fjolnir.
Learning some of the Slavic slaves are bound for Iceland and specifically for Fjolnir's settlement, Amleth disguises himself as a slave and swims on board their boat.
There he encounters Anya Taylor Joy's Olga, who claims to be a Slavic sorceress.
After a rough journey across the sea, they land in Iceland where shackled together, some of the slaves are sold to Fjolnir.
Amreth's uncle does not recognise him but is impressed by his strength.
We learn Fjolnir had to flee his kingdom but has established another settlement which he presides over with Gudrun, who is now his wife and his sons, Gustav Lindh's Thorir the Proud and Elliott Rose's Gunnar.
The slaves are worked to the bone, with the women also sexually exploited - although Olga refuses to let Fjolnir take advantage of her.
As she and Amleth grow close, he confides in her his plot to torment his uncle before slaying him and rescue his mother who appears to be in an otherwise normal marriage to Fjolnir.
Encountering another he-witch after sneaking out of the village in the dead of night, Amleth converses through him with the long dead Heimir.
He also retrieves a sword that has been specially forged for him to carry out his act of vengeance.
But will his plot succeed?
Eggers and Sjon have crafted a screenplay that feels like a fusion of the Amleth legend, Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' and Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator'.
However Eggers' movie is much more Avant Garde and boundary pushing than Scott's film or his other swordsmen tales like 'Kingdom of Heaven', 'Robin Hood' and 'The Last Duel'.
In fact, it falls somewhere in between Scott's tales of revenge and David Lowery's recent arthouse flick 'The Green Knight'.
However it manages to outstrip both directors' movies by shaping its revenge tale around the beats of supernatural horror.
Thanks to Jarin Blachke's evocative cinematography, Jimmy Boyle and James Harrison's hair raising sound design and sound editing and Craig Lathrop's impressive production design, not only is the revenge that Amreth serves in the depths of winter cold, it chills the audience right to their bones.
Few filmmakers use close-ups and lighting as effectively as Eggers, who imbues Amreth's tale with a trippiness that will leave you questioning at times what you have just witnessed.
At the core of the film, though, is a fiercely committed performance by Alexander Skarsgard as the clandestine prince on a quest for revenge.
You never for one moment doubt Amreth's desire for revenge, even if you question its widsom at times.
Claes Bang makes for a worthy adversary, injecting a bit more humanity and vulnerability into Fjolnir than you think he deserves, as Amleth starts to mess with his uncle's head through a series of brutal acts.
Kidman delivers a typically skilful performance as Gudrun, keeping the audience guessing as to whether she is complicit in Fjolnir's crimes or just stoically going along with the ride.
Lindh and Rose are good value too as Fjolnir's sons, while Hawke enthusiastically embraces the wild nature of his wronged Norse King.
Novak does a decent job as the younger version of Amreth, while Dafoe agains taps into the mania of his performance in 'The Lighthouse'.
Olwen Fouere pops up as a savage witch Ashildur Hofgythja, while there are brief appearances too by two alumni of 'The Green Knight, 'Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie.
Bjork turns in an eye catching appearance as the Seeress.
However it is Taylor Joy who steals the show as Olga, delivering a performance that cleverly veers between brave defiance and the hypnotic.
Assaulting his audiences ears and eyes, Eggers has directed the most jaw dropping swords and shields epic for years.
Unlike 'The Green Knight,' though, it doesn't sacrifice plot for atmosphere.
And unlike Ridley Scott's tales of gladiators and knights, it is also willing to push cinematic boundaries and challenge its audience with savage images and terrifying sounds.
It's a gruesome, bloody watch at times but undoubtedly mesmerising.
As a 15 certificate film, it will also leave you wondering what does it take these days for a film to earn a 18 certificate?
Few sword epics have revelled in as much blood, guts, mud, ice, volcanic fire and nudity.
None have felt this untamed.
'The Northman' is a spectacular Norse revenge tale, passionately and skilfully told.
It is the work of a filmmaker who understands the power of sight and sound and is not afraid to use everything in his cinematic armoury.
It may not be everyone's cup of tea.
However like Justin Kurzel's 'Macbeth', it is a film that none of those who see it are going to easily forget.
('The Northman' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on April 15, 2022)
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