Folktales Review: Finding answers in the past

In Folktales, students travel north of the Arctic Circle to learn skills passed down by their ancestors and escape modern living.

At the school, students knit, carve, and dance, but Folktales focuses particularly on their introduction to outdoor skills passed down by Nordic ancestors. Camping solo for two nights, with little more than a tent and an axe to hack at trees for firewood, aims to build resilience and resourcefulness. A lovable pack of Siberian Huskies are cared for by the class, teaching the youngsters how to look after and be responsible for other living beings. 

It is a world away from normality, and that is the point, because only once they step out of their everyday lives do the students realise what is weighing down on them. 19-year-old Hege says it is chaos to be a young woman, and she is tired of constantly wondering about what other people think of her. Bjørn Torre, also 19, is a little socially awkward, and is afraid of spending another year feeling lonely. Romain, who has travelled to the school from the Netherlands, is 18 and struggles with a lack of self-belief. 

Folktales follows their progress across the academic year, with some taking to the programme more than others. Hege feels like she is starting all over again, and although she lacks patience, she is shown to be adept at new challenges. For her, the experience is an excuse to escape from an overwhelming, overstimulating life back home in the city. The film journeys north from the bars and nightclubs of metropolitan Norway, blending pulsing strobes and electronic music with the quiet solitude of polar night, during which time the sun barely peeks above the horizon. 

It is difficult to argue against the appeal of this remote, revolutionary education. It appears to build an individual’s strength and bring people together, as Bjørn Torre and Romain let their guards down and bond. The sound of soft paws on freshly fallen snow is enough to quiet the minds of anyone frazzled by the constant notifications on their phone. Each student grows close to their dog, giving them a loving companion and an authentic connection they could never find scrolling TikTok. 

Threaded among Folktales is the story of the Norns, three Fates who weave destiny out of yarn. It serves to connect what is happening today at this folk school to centuries of history, to myths and legends. These Fates bestow gifts as people age, ultimately leaving us with knowledge, wisdom, and the ability to tell stories when we become adults. This tidbit of spirituality places Folktales among the coming of age canon, in which, by the end, our protagonists gain profound insight. Hege, Bjørn Torre, and Romain’s paths are shaped by their time at the school, as shown in an epilogue. 

Tradition sits uncomfortably alongside progress, and this tension is what makes Folktales so nourishing. It posits there is much to gain (or regain) from looking back, and that our current way of life is not serving our mental or social needs. It is inherently conservative to depend on the past for answers, and yet when given the opportunity, these students chose to go looking there and liked what they found. There is a challenge there, in which the old and the new are in conflict, and Folktales admirably presents itself without bias. It simply tells the story of how things were when we were more in touch with the world and each other, and how they could be like that again.

Folktales will be released at IFC Center (New York) on July 25, 2025, and in Los Angeles and additional cities on August 1, 2025.