Overview
Two climbers face nature's wrath and their own fears in a perilous ascent.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- harrowing
- tense
- austere
- survival film night
- historical drama evening
What critics said
Critics broadly admired the film's gripping survival tension, powerful Alpine cinematography, and sound design, while noting its politically charged historical implications.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The 1936 Eiger ascent is promoted by Nazi propaganda as a symbolic German achievement rather than merely a sporting feat.
The Eiger North Face is rendered as an immense, exposed environment whose scale intensifies the climbers' isolation and danger.
The climbers face an unclimbed rock face, severe Alpine weather, exhaustion, injury, and the consequences of each ascent decision.
The climbing competition unfolds under public pressure to serve national socialist prestige and racial ideology.
Films like North Face, and why
The Mountain
historical survival drama centered on extreme mountain conditions, physical endurance, and human vulnerability
Touching the Void
true-story mountaineering peril with tense ascents, natural obstacles, and moral pressure
Everest
visceral wilderness survival drama combining spectacular landscapes with escalating physical danger
The Revenant
historical adventure drama where ambition, ideology, and hostile nature collide
Movie Details
- Director
- Philipp Stölzl
- Release Date
- 2008-10-23
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (319)
Cast
- Benno Fürmann
- Florian Lukas
- Johanna Wokalek
- Georg Friedrich
- Simon Schwarz
- Ulrich Tukur
- Erwin Steinhauer
- Branko Samarovski
- Petra Morzé
- Hanspeter Müller
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, Brew
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, MovieMe
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is North Face about?
- A harrowing historical mountaineering drama follows two reluctant climbers into an Alpine ordeal exploited as Nazi spectacle.
- What is North Face like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of North Face as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is North Face violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in North Face as moderate.
- What did critics think of North Face?
- Critics broadly admired the film's gripping survival tension, powerful Alpine cinematography, and sound design, while noting its politically charged historical implications.
- Which films are like North Face?
- Films with a similar feel include The Mountain, Touching the Void, Everest, and The Revenant.
- How long is North Face?
- North Face runs 126 minutes.
- Where can I watch North Face?
- In United States, North Face streams on fuboTV, Brew.
