The film takes place "most certainly during the twelfth century of our era"[4] and follows a Norse warrior named One-Eye and a boy as they travel with a band of Christian Crusaders by ship in the hopes of finding the Holy Land.

[6] While the film garnered generally positive reviews, it only made back about $731,613 of its $5.7 million production cost.

[2] A mysterious mute one-eyed thrall is held captive by a Norwegian chieftain from Sutherland and forced to fight to the death against others.

They reach a small group of Christian Norsemen who are persecuting the heathens of Scandinavian Scotland.

Their leader, a Christian zealot, nevertheless advocates conquering the locals and claiming the land in the name of God.

As the remainder of the group reaches the peak of a mountain, the son asks 'One-Eye' why he had to go through the horrible journey, but receives no answer.

On the beach, the remaining tribe members quietly withdraw back into the forest, leaving the boy looking out at the ocean.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 74% approval rating based on 61 reviews with an average rating of 6.6/10 with the consensus “Visually gripping and anchored by a magnetic Mads Mikkelsen, Valhalla Rising delves into violence and faith in brutally uncompromising fashion.” [7] Metacritic gives the film a "generally favorable" average score of 61% based on reviews from 15 critics.

[10] Philip French wrote in his review in The Observer that it felt "like watching woad dry, but hypnotic, densely atmospheric in a portentous way, and weirdly beautiful.

The soundtrack contains the complete score and sections of the soundscapes sound designers Giles Lamb and Douglas MacDougall created for the film.