This film is based on the incredible true story of Guolaugur Frioþórsson, the sole survivor of a fishing accident in 1984 off the south coast of Iceland. Frioþórsson swam for over 5 hours in freezing cold waters, but bizarrely only showed mild symptoms of hypothermia, when he finally reached a hospital. His remarkable survival and exceptional physiology provides the context for a film which pits human feelings of loneliness and guilt against the world wide fame, which he attracted. Director Baltasar Kormákur draws out a beautifully understated performance from his leading man (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) and the cinematography is stunning; there is one scene in the film that is so full of danger, it is worth the price of admission alone. Icelandic entry for the 2013 Foreign Language Oscar.