12 Best Icelandic Movies to Watch

By Vlad Zakh · September 13, 2026

Iceland Drama slow and atmospheric thought provoking

Icelandic cinema turns its bleak, sparsely populated landscape into a character, whether that’s two sheep farmers who haven’t spoken in decades or a detective working through the brutal winter dark. Woman at War has a choir conductor waging a one-woman sabotage campaign against an industrial power company, A White, White Day follows a grieving police chief obsessed with proving his late wife’s affair, and Children of Nature sends an elderly widower on a last road trip. Volcano, Rams, Lamb, Jar City, The Deep and Under the Tree round out the list.

Woman at War (2018)

TMDB ★ 7.2

A choir conductor secretly wages a one-woman sabotage campaign against an industrial power company.

Directed by Benedikt Erlingsson · 1h 41m

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Philo, Netflix Standard with Ads, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel, Warriors and Gangsters Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

A White, White Day (2019)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A grieving police chief becomes obsessed with proving that his late wife had an affair.

Directed by Hlynur Pálmason · 1h 49m

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Film Movement Plus, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Film Movement Plus Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Children of Nature (1991)

TMDB ★ 6.9

An elderly widower and an old flame escape their nursing home for one last road trip together.

Directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson · 1h 25m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Volcano (2011)

TMDB ★ 6.3

A retired janitor's troubled marriage takes on new urgency after his wife suffers a stroke.

Directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson · 1h 35m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Deep (2012)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A fisherman is the lone survivor of a shipwreck, swimming for hours through freezing Icelandic waters.

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur · 1h 35m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Noi the Albino (2003)

TMDB ★ 7.4

A restless, brilliant teenager in an isolated fjord town longs to escape somewhere, anywhere, else.

Directed by Dagur Kári · 1h 30m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Jar City (2006)

TMDB ★ 7.2

A detective's cold-case murder investigation uncovers a genetic secret tied to Iceland's medical research.

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur · 1h 33m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Fetch TV

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Under the Tree (2017)

TMDB ★ 7.1

A neighbourhood dispute over a shading tree spirals into an absurd, escalating suburban war.

Directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson · 1h 29m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

101 Reykjavik (2000)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A man in his late twenties, still living with his mother, falls for her new girlfriend.

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur · 1h 28m

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Rams (2015)

TMDB ★ 7.5

Two estranged sheep-farmer brothers are forced to cooperate when a disease threatens both their flocks.

Directed by Grímur Hákonarson · 1h 33m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Lamb (2021)

TMDB ★ 6.3

A grieving farming couple raise an unsettling newborn that isn't entirely the lamb it appears to be.

Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson · 1h 46m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Cold Fever (1995)

TMDB ★ 6.9

A Japanese businessman treks across Iceland's remote highlands to perform a memorial ritual for his parents.

Directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson · 1h 25m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

12 Best Icelandic Movies to Watch

Woman at War (2018)

A White, White Day (2019)

Children of Nature (1991)

Volcano (2011)

The Deep (2012)

Noi the Albino (2003)

Jar City (2006)

Under the Tree (2017)

101 Reykjavik (2000)

Rams (2015)

Lamb (2021)

Cold Fever (1995)

You might also like

11 Best Bangladeshi Movies to Watch

12 Best Belgian Movies to Watch

13 Best Romanian Movies to Watch

10 More Best Turkish Movies

12 Best Senegalese Movies to Watch

13 Best Peruvian Movies to Watch