22 July Review: 5 Ups & 4 Downs

3. The Norwegian Actors Speak English...For Some Reason

Despite 22 July being a mostly Norwegian production with a local cast and crew, Greengrass made the rather peculiar decision to the shoot the film in the English language, detracting significantly from the movie's overall sense of authenticity.

In interviews the director has defended the decision as a means to make the film more accessible to a wider audience - he referred to it as "a story for the world" - but it ends up feeling like a cynical call that's absolutely to the movie's detriment overall.

That's not any reflection on the actors themselves, who are mostly splendid, but simply that the film would feel more lived-in and believable if the Norwegian characters weren't speaking in English just to appease the popcorn-munchers (who probably won't even watch this anyway).