'No Country for Old Men' Meets 'Hateful Eight' in Alexander Skarsgård’s Netflix Thriller

Published Nov 7, 2026, 7:53 AM EST

He may currently be in theaters romancing Olivia Colman in the whimsical fantasy Wicker, but there is a dark side to Alexander Skarsgård’s filmography that fans of the actor will know intimately. His edgy, mysterious on-screen persona is never more present than in Hold The Dark, the 2018 neo-Western thriller produced by Netflix and co-starring award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright. While his big-budget endeavors may have received more attention, we feel this ranks among the most unsettling Skarsgård performances ever.

What is ‘Hold The Dark’ About?

Wright plays Russell Core, a writer with expertise in wolf behavior, who is traveling to Alaska at the request of a mother named Medora Stone (Riley Keough). She has asked him to investigate the disappearance of her son, one of three children said by locals to have been captured and killed by wolves. As Core investigates, he finds there is more to the killings than he anticipated, with the murders being connected to strange rituals and shocking secrets.

The movie is directed by Jeremy Saulnier, the filmmaker behind thrillers Blue Ruin and Green Room. It’s a movie that requires your undivided attention, as you join Core in unraveling the mystery of what he has found in the snow. While many movies in the genre lean toward easy and predictable answers, this film explores themes of grief, isolation, and violence, enhanced by some enthralling central performances.

‘Hold The Dark’ is One of Netflix’s Most Haunting Thrillers

Image via Netflix

The film divided critics upon its release, but Hold the Dark's enduring popularity on the streaming service is a mark of how fascinating it has proved to audiences. The Alaskan wilderness is the canvas for Saulnier’s mystery, providing a bleak, unforgiving, and ever-present backdrop to the events that unfold. There’s a sense of dread, of violence that lies just beyond your view, first personified by wolves but then by the history of the town, as the threats to Core come closer. Those threats are then followed through on, with shocking spurts of violence that leave your nerves shattered as we head to the conclusion.

Even more unsettling is the dreamlike tone the film grows into. When Core arrives, his task feels somewhat straightforward, but as he digs deeper into the mystery, reality seems to have been buried in the snow as local superstitions and animal instincts take over. It’s a movie that refuses to provide easy answers, which may frustrate some, but for others, it’s a fascinating walk into a different world where the normal rules of the thriller don’t apply.

Alexander Skarsgård Gives One of the Most Unsettling Performances of His Career

Whether playing a dangerous vampire in True Blood, a savage warrior in The Northman, or an abusive husband in TV hit Big Little Lies, Skarsgård is an actor who exudes mystery. His piercing stare often masks his intentions, but feels unsettling in the right context. That ability to be unnervingly elusive is never more present than in Hold The Dark, where he plays Vernon, a soldier returning home to the news of tragedy, who doesn’t react in the way you would expect.

He becomes the unpredictable element in the story, a figure who should be the subject of sympathy due to being the father of the lost child and who could not be responsible given that he was away at war. Yet, his emotional restraint surrounds him in suspicion, while his emotionless physicality makes him more frightening than if he were an outright villain. It’s a performance that takes full advantage of his foreboding presence, and becomes one of the key elements of a shocking final act. It’s a role that the actor himself admits made an impact. While promoting the movie, he said: “I was haunted by Vernon Slone after reading the script, and I felt like, ‘if I can’t escape him, maybe I can be him.’”

That goal was certainly achieved, as the menacing man of few words became a highlight of the movie. Hold The Dark has been a consistent presence on the Netflix charts because it is a movie that asks you to think about what happens, even after the credits roll. Morality, mortality, and justice are all given new perspectives, and one of Hollywood’s biggest stars gets a role that unveils the darkest parts of his repertoire.

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  Russell Core

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  Vernon Slone

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  Donald Marium

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  Riley Keough

  Medora Slone