In the mountains of Romsdalen Norway, Tobias is taking his daughter Nora to see "The Troll
Peaks".
The fairy tale says thirteen trolls once gathered here for a wedding, but they got so drunk
they lost track of time and became mountains.
Nora thinks she's too old for fairytales now, which hurts Tobias to hear, and he reminds
her you gotta believe in something to be able to see it.
Twenty years later, on the Atlantic coast of Northwestern Norway, Nora is an archeologist
on a digging expedition with her team.
Most of them are ready to give up because they've found nothing in six months and funds
are running low, but Nora is stubborn and keeps going.
Her persistence pays off and she ends up finding a dinosaur skull, for which the team throws
a celebration.
Meanwhile in the Dovre mountains, a construction group is working on building a new railway
by digging through the mountains.
This has gotten lots of attention from activists that are against such destruction of nature,
but their presence is ignored.
When the explosives are finally activated to start the tunnel, something deep inside
the mountains growls and causes a collapse from which not all workers can run fast enough.
This incident and the seismic activity it caused are immediately detected by the Norwegian
armed forces, who send a reconnaissance aircraft to investigate.
Sigrid is in charge of managing the cameras on those aircrafts and quickly puts together
a series of visuals that she shows to her higher-ups, who decide this is big enough
to alert Prime Minister Berit.
On her way to the base, Berit is informed of all the damage caused by unknown forces
and shown the images they took, which Berit's advisor Andreas thinks look like footprints.
Berit finds it amusing but unrealistic and gives Andreas two tasks: to keep the press
away from this information and to find some scientific experts that could help them with
this problem.
Moments later, a helicopter is picking up Nora in the middle of her celebration, asking
her to come with her to see a matter of national security.
Andreas welcomes Nora to the base and takes her to a secret meeting, where Berit, the
most important military leaders, and a few other scientists are discussing the possible
reasons behind the incident in the mountains.
When Nora presents herself as a paleontologist, she isn't taken very seriously because dinosaurs
are extinct, therefore they couldn't have been the cause of this.
While the team doesn't reject the possibility of a military attack from another country
yet, so far the reports seem to favor the theory of the cause being geological in nature.
Pictures appear on the screen showing a crater and indentations on the landscape, which prompts
the scientists to throw theories like sinkholes or subterranean pockets of gas.
Nora interrupts them to point out those craters are clearly footprints, but once again, she
isn't taken seriously because footprints would mean monsters, which is a stupid idea.
Another interruption comes from Sigrid, who has hacked into the phone of one of the activists
and has found live footage of the incident.
The destruction is quite disturbing to watch, but before the others can go back to their
gas theories, Nora makes Sigrid play the video again, more slowly this time.
There's a clearly roaring sound in the background, similar to an animal, and in the shadows among
the falling rocks, there's a huge and mysterious humanoid shape.
Meanwhile in Lesja, an old married couple wonders what's gotten into their dog, who
won't stop barking.
Suddenly, the entire house starts shaking, so the couple runs to hide in their basement
before everything starts to crumble and the power goes out.
Once the shaking stops, the couple comes out to find their house completely destroyed,
although the dog at least is okay.
Back in the base, the leaders still refuse to believe the footprints could've been left
by some kind of giant creature, and Nora points out that whatever it is they need to take
action against it instead of sitting on their butts and arguing for hours.
Berit is impressed by her attitude and makes Nora the official Scientific Adviser, then
she's asked to go with Andreas to Lesja to check out the latest incident.
On the helicopter, Andreas asks Nora how she became a paleontologist, so Nora tells him
she's loved nature since she was a child, and her kiddy love for fairy tales evolved
into wanting to look for the real monsters underground.
Her mom died when she was ten, and her dad was a professor of origin mythologies and
folklore, but the older he became, the less he could distinguish between reality and fiction.
This is why Nora hasn't seen Tobias in years.
Andreas confesses he wants to be a writer and is excited about the possibility of this
incident having supernatural causes, but Nora cuts him off when they arrive at their destination,
shocked by the damage to the landscape.
The military is already securing the area, and Nora is welcomed by Captain Kristoffer,
who shows them the tracks that came from across the river and into the valley then make it
two miles south into the mountains before simply stopping.
The soldiers did a full sweep of the area, but they found no other clues.
Nora asks the old couple some questions, but they didn't get to see much because a giant
moving figure was blocking the sun.
They did hear something though: a loud howling that sounded like a very sad melody.
Afterward, Nora takes a closer look at the damage and notices a very strange and strong
smell that she decides to call "hypernature".
She also uses UV light to look for biological traces, but she finds nothing other than earth
and stones.
Nora asks to be taken to the place where the tracks suddenly stop, and the thermal scanner
shows no signs of life, only mountains.
Since this creature is too big to hide or disappear, Nora wonders if it's capable of
camouflage.
Nora's starting to come up with some theories, but she is still unsure, so she takes Kristoffer
and Andreas to see Tobias, who comes out with a firearm when he sees strangers on his property,
especially an armed soldier.
After Nora makes him realize this is the daughter he hasn't seen in years, Tobias accepts to
let them in, although he'll have to put on some pants first.
Tobias' house is filled with paperclips and research that show his obsession with finding
a mythical creature known as a "troll".
Nora stops him from talking about all his theories about trolls being real and the witnesses
being silenced and asks him to concentrate on the footage she proceeds to show him, explaining
she thinks his old work may have some clues.
After all, nobody knows these mountains better than him.
However Tobias thinks this footage proves his troll theory is real, and when Nora points
out scientists would've already found troll DNA if they actually existed, Tobias reminds
her that the Christianization of Norway got rid of all the mythical creatures and when
he was about to reveal it all, Tobias was sent to the loony bin.
He thinks the people in charge have always known, and fairy tales were written to make
trolls look evil and dumb when they're actually pretty smart.
Nora can't believe what she's hearing, but Tobias is too excited for objections and joins
the team to continue the investigation.
When they arrive at the area where the tracks stop, Tobia immediately notices that the topography
is all wrong and doesn't match the maps.
He also points out this is like being on an adventure together again with his daughter,
but Nora doesn't want this to be some kind of reconciliation.
Suddenly, the smell of hypernature hits their noses and the sky darkens as the mountain
behind them opens an eye - it turns out both father and daughter had been correct.
The creature is indeed a troll, and its ability to camouflage has allowed him to pretend to
be part of the mountain, explaining why the topography was wrong.
The troll stands up, showing its mighty body and roaring at them, thus the team runs back
to the helicopter to get away.
They still manage to get the troll on camera though, and when the base gets the transmission,
they can't deny the truth any longer.
Kristoffer takes the group to his military camp in order to call the base to inform them
of what they've learned.
Nora continues to use the words "unknown creature" not to look crazy, but Tobias interrupts her
to tell everyone that it's a troll that got bothered by the construction in the mountains,
which Tobias considers a mockery of nature.
The leaders consider him to be crazy and kick him out, but when Nora asks for more time,
she isn't heard either.
They're worried about the safety of their country so they'll go ahead and prepare a
military operation.
Afterward, Nora is furious with her dad for ruining it all and wants to leave, but Tobias
changes her mind when he explains he knows this isn't a fairy tale, this isn't a troll
that will simply be pushed back by weapons and sunlight.
The troll has woken up alone and is scared, thus weapons will make it even angrier, not
to mention nature always pushes back.
Nora accepts he's right and stays, now it's just a matter of convincing Kristoffer of
taking them with him.
He at first turns them down, but after some begging from Nora, he accepts to hide the
trio in his helicopter as long as they promise to follow his orders.
Night has fallen over Heidal by the time the whole military operation makes it there.
While they wait for the troll to appear, Tobias and Nora remember the old fairy tales they
used to share during their adventures, and the two of them finally reconcile.
The troll shows up a moment later, but when he gets close enough he stops moving, and
Tobias is sure the creature knows they're there.
The soldiers open fire on the troll ignoring Tobias' warnings that it'll only make him
angry, but the bullets and the explosions do nothing and only cause it to attack back
just like Tobias predicted.
Everyone begins running away as the troll destroys everything in its path, including
the cameras that were transmitting the operation to the main base.
The team hides behind a tree with a wounded soldier, and when they're about to move away,
the troll reaches down and grabs the soldier to eat it, Tobias explains the troll probably
smelled the blood from the soldier's wounds.
Nora, Andreas, and Kristoffer want to run away, but Tobias decides to approach the troll
and try a friendly approach.
To everyone's shock, the troll actually stops moving and answers Tobias' gentle words with
peaceful groans, but unfortunately not all the soldiers got the memo.
A truck opens fire on the troll again, and when the creature turns around to counterattack,
it accidentally hits Tobias in the process.
As the troll walks away, Nora rushes to her father's side, and Tobias mumbles the words
"the palace, the king, home", asking his daughter to remember to believe before he dies.
When they return to the base, Nora keeps herself busy looking over Tobias' research to forget
the pain and look for a solution.
When Andreas and Kristoffer come to check on her, they inform her they've lost sight
of the troll for now, but the army is getting ready for an air strike.
Nora thinks this attack will have the same result as the first one, meaning they need
to think outside the box.
The fairy tales say trolls don't like sunlight, but they've seen this one come out in daylight.
The other clue they have is Tobias' mention of how the trolls were destroyed by the Christianization
of Norway, which gives Nora an idea.
They contact Berit and the others to explain that stories say trolls used to throw boulders
at churches when they heard the bells, which means bells are what they need to use.
The leaders think this is ridiculous, so Kristoffer has to cut in to remind them nothing has worked
so far and they need alternatives, thus Berit reluctantly gives them permission to carry
on the plan.
The troll reappears moments later, coming closer to the Hunderfossen family park and
causing massive panic among the crowd.
As everyone begins running away except for a little girl that wants to watch the creature,
Kristoffer and Nora show up in a helicopter, guiding a whole hover that is carrying giant
bells.
They surround the troll with these bells as they make them ring, and Nora turns out to
be right, the sound does hurt the troll's ears.
However the troll also doesn't hesitate to attack to defend himself, hitting the helicopters
and making them crash.
When one is about to fall on top of the little girl, the troll surprisingly grabs the helicopter
to save her before it walks away.
Since this happened in such a public location, now the whole world knows about the troll
and the fact it's making its way to the capital city.
Newscasts from every country cover the incident and phone-recorded clips go viral on social
media.
When the team returns to the base, a furious Berit ignores Nora when she points out the
bells did work so they should try again from a different angle and kicks her out of the
base.
On her way out, Nora bumps into Kristoffer, who confesses he thinks Berit is making a
mistake and he'll be there for Nora if she ever needs anything.
In the conference room, the military leaders tell Berit about some dangerous missiles that
haven't been officially approved yet.
Berit can't believe she didn't know about this, and Andreas points out such weapons
shouldn't even be considered, but this only gets him kicked out of the room.
Seeing as he won't be taken seriously, he decides to quit and rejoin Nora on his wait
out, telling her to get ready because they're evacuating the city.
Moments later, Berit appears on tv officially announcing a state of emergency and asking
all the citizens to collaborate as their soldiers take over to prepare for the next operation
and help them evacuate without issues.
Nora and Andreas are in the same car and get stuck in traffic, so Nora uses this time to
keep looking at Tobias' research.
The pages keep mentioning "Sinding" and something about a gatekeeper, which prompts Andreas
to comment it could be Rikard Sinding, the Lord Chamberlain at the Royal Palace.
Nora suddenly remembers Tobias mentioning "king, palace, home" before his death, and
reaches the conclusion they need to go to the Royal Palace.
Andreas drives them there and they are stopped by the guards at the gate, but Sinding immediately
comes to let them in because he expected Tobias or someone related to him to show up sooner
or later.
Sinding explains he respected Tobias, even if Tobias hated him, and his stubbornness
allowed him to be one of the few people that discovered the secret underneath the palace.
Once upon a time, it was considered good luck to build a palace on top of another king's
home, and it turns out this particular palace has been built where the Troll King used to
live.
Nora and Andreas are taken to a tunnel full of troll bones as Sinding explains that the
Christianization of Norway killed everything that went against their faith, they ambushed
the royal troll family and only spared one baby to lure the king into the mountain.
There, they locked it inside a cavern and left it for dead.
Twelve years ago, Tobias found out about all this and Sinding sent him to the loony bin
to guard the secret.
He feels bad about that but still considers it the right thing to do, which makes Nora
furious.
This isn't time for an argument though, Nora realizes Tobias was right, the troll king
is coming "home" to the palace and they need to stop it.
While looking around the bones, Nora notices her UV light is damaging them, which means
the stories were right about sunlight after all.
They've seen the troll out during the day, but they haven't seen it under direct sunlight
because of the clouds and the mountains.
Andreas points out they can't control the sun, but Nora has a plan, and she calls Kristoffer
to get his help - he will put up a special trap while Nora and Andreas lure the troll
to it.
Meanwhile the troll has arrived at the city, and once again the military attacks do nothing
to it, so Berit approves the use of the missiles.
Sigrid notices the leaders are getting ready to launch those missiles and calls Andreas
to warn him, which means they need to find a way to buy time.
Andreas asks Sigrid to try to hack into the army's system to stop the launching while
Kristoffer is ringing the alarm system all over the city, this brings all his soldier
friends to his location to help him with the trap.
Sinding helps as well, asking the guards to put one of the troll's skulls on the biggest
truck they have, which Nora and Andreas will drive around the city to lure the troll away
from the palace.
It takes Sigrid a few tries to get into the system but once she's in, she immediately
stops the missiles, giving Nora and Andreas the time they need.
When the troll comes closer, they finally take off and reveal the skull on the back
of the truck, which causes the troll to roar in anger and go after them as planned.
Nora calls Kristoffer to tell him they're on their way, prompting him to offer a motivational
speech to his soldiers in order to keep them brave when the monster finally appears.
After lots of crazy driving through the streets of Oslo, Nora and Andreas reach the highway
only to accidentally lose the skull in the process.
The troll stops running to pick it up, letting out a painful grieving groan for its children
before it notices its reflection on a building.
When it tries to touch the glass, it breaks and the sudden shattering noise startles the
troll, causing it to accidentally drop the skull, which breaks into a million pieces.
Furious, the troll roars in pain, making Nora feel how sad it is over being the last of
its kind.
The creature comes after them for revenge and Nora goes back to the original plan of
driving away, dodging all the destruction the troll is causing the best she can.
At the base, Sigrid's hacking is discovered and her computer is taken away so they can
restart the system.
Seconds later, Nora and Andreas make it to the area with the trap, so they jump out of
the truck to finish luring the troll right to the center as it steps on the vehicle.
The troll tries to step on Nora next but at that moment, the soldiers activate dozens
of UV lights that surround the creature and start burning it.
The plane with the missiles is coming closer too, but the pilot hesitates when he sees
civilians on site.
An argument begins at the base to see if they should abort or not, inspiring Sigrid to punch
the idiot that doesn't care about his citizens and the operation is effectively aborted.
Berit and the other people at the base watch on their screen how the troll is slowly dying,
and Kristoffer's soldiers are already celebrating the victory.
However Nora can't stand hearing and seeing a life suffer like this and turns off the
power to save it.
The soldiers get ready to shoot, but Nora stops them too before approaching the troll
the same way her father did, gently asking it to go back to the safety of the mountains.
The troll stares at her, considering her words, but before it can react, the sun begins to
rise and it burns the troll until there's nothing left but rubble.
As everyone basks in their victory, Andreas jokes about what they should call this new
monument or hill, and Nora decides it shall be the "Tobias Boulder".
When Berit arrives a moment later, she thanks Nora for her work.
Andreas reminds the Prime Minister that he quit and announces he'll be a writer, then
when he walks away with Nora, he wonders if there may be more creatures hidden in Dovre.
Meanwhile deep in the mountains, something is starting to move under a pile of rocks.