Sightlines · reception
How Number 24 was received
2024 · John Andreas Andersen · Number 24 on Sightlines
The arc
A homegrown blockbuster in Norway — the country's biggest domestic hit of 2024 — that most of the world only discovered when it hit Netflix on New Year's Day 2025 and promptly became the platform's most-watched non-English film globally in its debut week.
What’s debated
The recurring debate is the modern-day framing device — elderly Sønsteby taking questions from schoolkids — which some viewers find the film's moral spine and others find an unnecessary drag on an otherwise gripping resistance thriller.
Its footprint
It became the poster child for the Netflix-era 'random Norwegian film everyone was suddenly telling you to watch' phenomenon, pulling nearly 9 million views in its first week and topping the global non-English chart.
Where it stands
A word-of-mouth Netflix sleeper and quiet Letterboxd favorite — the WWII resistance film cinephiles recommend when someone says they're tired of Hollywood war movies.
Did you know? Director John Andreas Andersen, a former cinematographer, insisted on shooting most of the film on 35mm — and the elderly Gunnar Sønsteby is played by Erik Hivju, father of Game of Thrones' Kristofer Hivju.