In a typical epic poem derived from legends the hero is on a quest and is beset by all sorts of bizarre obstacles placed in their path. In this film a young Icelandic woman who aspires to be a poet decides to travel to California because she hates the dark and loves the sun. Her family and friends don't want her to go but assist her nonetheless. But before she can get on a plane she encounters two obnoxious American men, a poet and a film-maker, who block her progress. This not a film for the uneducated. This a not a film for morons who only like car chases and gunfights. This a film for people who like the Iliad and Beowulf, and would love to see a female hero on a poetic quest. Keep an eye out for the squishy elephant.

Reading about how this movie was made - 35mm film, low-budget, etc. - it seems as if the technical and commercial challenges overshadowed the matter of creating a compelling story.

The central character, Sigga, is a young poet in search of a new life in California. Her attempts to escape from the limited, if beautiful, confines of Iceland encounter opposition from her parents and support from her friends. There is much soul-searching, wandering - somewhat aimlessly - from place , and wistful music. But the film lacks any substantial drive or momentum so that the experience is of watching someone drifting. And how it all ends is unclear.

There are some quirky - or irritating - features here too, such as the guy who follows Sigga everywhere carrying a canoe for no obvious reason (if there is a non-obvious reason it is never explained),and the repeated chiming of a few slightly discordant notes.

Even the Icelandic landscape is not really used to great effect. I was expecting some long, lingering wide shots that would underpin the action, but the trajectory of the story is too diffuse to enable this to work.

There seems to be a likeable and memorable movie hidden somewhere in Iceland is Best, but unfortunately it did not manage to emerge this time.

(Viewed at the Reghed Centre Cinema, Cumbria, UK 21 October 2021)

Charming little film. A warning to those who love CGI generated violence and dramatic action play Mobile with someone killed every five minutes. It's not the film for you. This coming-of-age comedy - in spite odmf a loving family, a good home life, and loving, supporting friends, she longs for a great adventure leaving the security to go out into the world. She grew up in one of the safest places in the world, rural Iceland. I wonder what she would have experienced when she made it to tapanga in the Los Angeles area. It certainly would've opened her eyes to another fast paced part of the world, and she would've learned from it. Don't many of his have the same advent when we going to college or university or go into the military. We lose our innocence. But my guess is Sigga eventually she would've gone back to Iceland.