The Narrow Road to the Deep North Review

Justin Kurzel’s upcoming miniseries The Narrow Road To The Deep North is a sharp, illicit drama that’s much more concerned with its characters than painting an immersive portrait of war.

Beyond that, Kurzel includes even more flashbacks-within-flashbacks, as Elordi’s wartime prisoner reflects on a controversial relationship that he left behind to serve his country. These ruminations take up the majority of The Narrow Road to the Deep North’s first two episodes, building the foundations of the show’s central romance and examining the tragic impacts that wartime trauma has exacted on the protagonist’s long-lost sense of charm and romance. There’s no doubt that Kurzel will dive deeper into the specifics of those wartime experiences in later episodes, but the beginning of his series seems much more interested in the characters before they were forever changed by this trauma.

That’s what’s so interesting and unique about The Narrow Road to the Deep North: it’s a wartime drama by almost all metrics, but less than half of the narrative actually takes place in this environment of conflict. The largest chunk of these episodes is a much more personal story of longing and personal connections, while the remainder consists of flash-forwards to a familiar future that allows us to dissect how the legacy of these wars manifests in the modern day. It’s an extremely unconventional approach to storytelling, especially for a series that has blatantly marketed itself as a war drama, but it’s a bold risk that (so far) pays off.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North also features several great performances, most notably from Jacob Elordi in the lead role. The actor is just as charismatic as he’s always been, but this role gives him a new dimension of emotional depth that many of his characters have been lacking in the past. There’s a real intimacy and warmth to this role that’s gradually eroded through his wartime experiences, which allows for some effortless commentary on the nature of trauma merely through the progression of Elordi’s performance. And the more emotional moments are surely still to come, so this could easily end up being one of the actor’s flashier and more memorable performances. 

From a technical perspective, there’s lots to admire about The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The show opens with a spectacular sequence that slowly evolves from a regular conversation between a group of friends into something much more sinister and gritty, which is a perfect omen for the style that Kurzel adopts in the remaining episodes. The shocking tragedies (or the spontaneous romances) can sprout from anywhere, and that constantly keeps the audience on their toes as the story progresses. Tactile visuals and intricate sound design make for an immersive viewing experience, while the show’s natural dialogue adds to this constructed authenticity. The only real complaint about the visual style is that certain scenes in the flashbacks-of-flashbacks are edited to feel hypnotic and dreamlike, which often leans into romantic stereotypes and doesn’t feel as innovative as the rest of the show’s direction.

Clearly, it’s impossible to judge the entirety of a series based on fewer than half of the episodes, but the sheer ambition and subversion of expectations in The Narrow Road to the Deep North’s opening 90 minutes is something to behold. It’s not perfect – some of the romantic tension between Elordi and Odessa Young’s characters feels rushed and could have used more time to blossom – but it’s a strong start. The visuals are powerful, the action is dynamic, and the characters all have clear purposes that help push the series’ key themes onto the audience. There is a growing risk that the final episodes won’t be able to emotionally pay off all the narrative threads that are established in the first two, but assuming everything goes well, this could be another major hit for Justin Kurzel.

The first two episodes of The Narrow Road to the Deep North premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 15, 2025. The series will be available to stream on Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand and Canada from April 18, 2025.