Kristofer Hivju

In Red One (2024), Kristofer Hivju's Krampus slaps people for sport beneath a good deal of prosthetic make-up. We perked up during those ten minutes, because the firelight, real bodies and rough play give the film a warmth it badly lacks elsewhere. His physical confidence survives the disguise, and the scene briefly feels like a handmade fairy tale. Jake Kasdan's otherwise joyless film gives him less to do than its snowmen, a peculiar use of an actor who can supply both menace and comedy.

An early English-language role as Jonas in The Thing (2011) preceded Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones (2013–2019), the part that brought him wider international recognition. With the red hair, beard and imposing build, it is easy to see why action and fantasy productions keep finding room for him. His work also includes the Swedish Beck crime films and the Norwegian Twin, so those international supporting parts are not the whole story. We would rather see that physical confidence put under pressure than simply dressed for another fight.

Force Majeure (2014) makes the stronger case for him. Ruben Östlund casts him as Mats in a film about a father's moment of panic and the marital arguments that follow. Hivju's comic assurance is welcome amid all the explaining, and his supporting performance helps prevent the film from becoming a prolonged exercise for its two leads. Those arguments sometimes last longer than they should, but he gives us a reason to keep listening when the adults start explaining themselves again.

Cocaine Bear (2023) demonstrates how little a recognisable presence can do when the writing has no useful task for it. Elizabeth Banks pairs Hivju with Hannah Hoekstra as hikers, part of an overcrowded cast sent walking through the same forest towards the same animal. Negron's editing sometimes lets scenes run past the joke, and the loose, chatty dialogue does not justify the waiting. There are effective attacks, but Hivju's presence cannot make the stretches between them any less slack. For an evening that makes proper use of him, choose Force Majeure.