Drømmeland review – hermit and his smartphone in the Norwegian wilderness

This voyeuristic account of an eccentric who broadcasts himself hunting naked never meaningfully addresses his paradoxical existence

Having resolved to extricate himself from the chains of civilisation, Nils Leidal has taken solitary refuge among the mountains of Norway. While his basically furnished shed and daily rituals of scavenging and ice baths hark back to a simpler way of life, the sixtysomething is also glued to his internet-connected smartphone. The paradox is beguiling: how does one maintain a philosophy of self-sufficiency while simultaneously broadcasting his existence online?

Unfocused in its structure, Joost van der Wiel’s muddled documentary grapples with these fascinating contradictions on a superficial level. Apart from Nils’ vague distrust of the government, as evidenced in a video in which he burns his passport, the film offers little information about his background or the reasons behind his self-imposed exile. Punctuated by nondescript drone shots of the beautiful landscape, Drømmeland is mostly preoccupied with Nils’ more eccentric behaviour, like his rueful moaning to a lover on the phone, or his habit of hunting in the nude. Haphazardly edited with little consideration for his state of mind, these sequences come off as voyeuristic or plain strange.

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