The North Review – Stunning Scenery, A Captivating Journey of Friendship and Self-Discovery

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Thursday, 19 March 2026 14:12

Written by Janet Walker

The North, from Tull Stories, presents a cinematic masterpiece as two friends embark on a 350 mile hike through the majestic Scottish Highlands through rough, but inspiring terrain, as they attempt to reconnect after a decade.

The film begins with voice over, of the two men, Chris, played by Bart Harder, and Lluis, played by Carles Pulido, best friends, and we don't realize until the end that the two were saying goodbye. Then it is ten years later, and they reconnect to revisit the epic journey they had a decade before, hiking Scotland's West Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail.

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During the beginning of the hike, Chris is preoccupied with his personal life, and his boss repeatedly telephones him on his cell, pressuring him about the workload, the spreadsheets, and it isn't like he didn't know he would be hiking, we begin to understand he doesn't enforce boundaries.

As the journey steepens we see Chris is in better physical condition, and early into the hike, Lluis suggests they spend the night in one of the last towns before the trail becomes just themselves and the highlands, so he can rest his knee.

Chris decides he is going to go alone, and Lluis agrees to meet up and the next stop. Hiking alone isn't what he expected, and soon we see he begins to have regrets. The next day the pari meet up again, and Lluis bought a brace for his knee, and the pair are off again. Chris' lack of empathy became the first wedge in their relationship.

Lluis decides they should go old school and use maps to navigate the trail instead of GPS. When they try, fortunately they run into a solo female hiker who explains the highland way trail is the other way.

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The Cape Wrath Trail is magnificent, and as they sit on the mountaintop hoping for the sunrise, even through the clouds, the landscape is green, lush, and beautifully parceled. Along the trail, there are small houses, and hikers can escape the realities of their endeavor, at least for the night.

The two men are bordering on middle age, and each are facing the future with trepidation, using this hike as one last hurrah, one last punctuating moment in their history as friends, to look back one, before the realities of the future, and everything that it brings embraces them.

We also learn that the past decade has been challenging, Lluis had testicular cancer, and while Chris' life seems on some sort of traditional track, the pressure of that is challenging. The hike becomes a metaphorical journey as well as a physical one.

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However, as often happens when best friends decide to travel together, it can become a nightmare as neither has the ability to articulate their emotions. Fine becomes the word of the day. Which causes Chris to overcompensate for what he believes he caused over his lack of empathy and Lluis is determined to finish and not even pause to breathe in the splendor of the moment or silently whisper appreciation to a higher power for the magnificent beauty.

But while Chris remains preoccupied with work and life back at home, Lluis is determined to finish the trail to prove he can still do it. Amidst the sweeping landscapes, harsh weather and chance encounters with other hikers, the solitude and silence of the trek force the pair to confront truths about themselves and their friendship – and find out what it truly means to stand still and listen.

Shot entirely on the route of the walk, and in chronological order, The North is an ode to friendship and the healing power of nature.  It's not only a poignant and powerful drama, but also perhaps the definitive hiking film, allowing us to take in the stunning majesty of the Highlands along with Lluis and Chris as they reconnect with each other and with nature.

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The North is an inspirational journey through what is unequivocally some of the most spectacular, breathtaking, and lush countryside in the world. As the film is a two-hander, the actors, Bart Harder, Carles Pulido each are able to present their own physical and emotional journeys.

Twan Peeters, the cinematographer, has captured the beauty and the unforgiving weather, and all the pests, insects, flies, and animals, that thrive in the Highlands ecosystem.

Riveting and mesmerizing, The North is an epic adventure, of both physical endurance and fortitude, as well as mental and emotional resilience and finding balance.

The North opens April 24, 2026 in UK and Irish cinemas, with previews beginning March 20 2026. See it. It is a captivating experience.  

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Country: U.K.

Language: English.

Runtime: 131 minutes.

Release date: April 24, 2026.

Director: Bart Schrijver.

Producer: Tom Holscher, Arnold Louis, Bart Schrijver.

Executive Producer: Kees de Jong.

Writer: Bart Schrijver.

Featuring: Bart Harder, Carles Pulido.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.