What if the longest journey you ever take isn’t measured in miles, but in whether you can still meet someone where you left them? That question hums quietly through The North, a film that starts as a reunion and slowly reveals itself as something more uncertain, more fragile. Set against the sprawling, often unforgiving Scottish Highlands, it resists the urge to dramatize every step, instead letting the emotional distance between two former friends do most of the talking.
Directed by Bart Schrijver, the film feels shaped as much by lived experience as by narrative intent. Schrijver’s approach—shooting on location, in sequence, while physically undertaking the journey—bleeds into every frame. There’s a sense that this isn’t just a story about hiking, but an attempt to translate the act of being out there into something cinematic. That idea aligns closely with how the film has been framed by those bringing it to audiences: less as an escapist adventure and more as an invitation to slow down, to breathe, to sit in stillness for a while. It’s a rare kind of film that doesn’t just depict nature—it asks you to experience its pace.
At the center are Bart Harder and Carles Pulido, whose performances feel disarmingly unforced. Harder’s Chris carries the quiet tension of someone who can’t quite disconnect from the life he left behind, even when surrounded by mountains. Pulido’s Lluis, meanwhile, moves with a clearer sense of purpose, as if the journey itself is something he needs to prove—not to Chris, but to himself. Their chemistry isn’t built on big emotional swings, but on hesitation, missed cues, and the small, telling moments where connection almost happens.
The Highlands themselves are more than a backdrop—they’re the film’s emotional architecture. Shot along the real West Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail, the landscape feels immense, unpredictable, and deeply grounding all at once. You sense the physical reality of it: the exhaustion, the damp cold, the way days blur together. That authenticity reinforces what both the filmmakers and distributors seem to believe about the project—that while nothing replaces actually being out there, cinema can get surprisingly close. There’s a quiet pride, too, in how the film captures the raw beauty of Scotland, as if it’s offering the country back to its own audiences with fresh eyes.
By the end, The North doesn’t tie things up neatly, and it’s better for it. It lingers in that in-between space where relationships are neither fully repaired nor completely broken—just changed. What stays with you isn’t a single revelation, but a mood: the idea that stepping away from noise, from urgency, from everything that keeps you moving, might be the only way to understand where you stand. It’s a film that doesn’t push you forward so much as ask you to pause—and in that pause, it finds something quietly profound.
The North will be in UK cinemas on April 26 and streaming platforms shortly after that.
MPAA Rating: Not rated.
Runtime: 130 mins
Director: Bart Schrijver
Writer: Bart Schrijver
Cast: Bart Harder; Carles Pulido; Olly Bassi
Genre: Adventure | Drama
Tagline: A Tuesday Studio Film
Memorable Movie Quote: "I think it's so cool what you guys are doing.""
Distributor: Tuesday Studio
Official Site:
Release Date: April 26 and streaming platforms shortly after that
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: Two old friends are walking 600 kilometers through the Scottish highlands, to reconnect with each other, nature and parts of themselves they lost.
