With minimal violence (four gunshots), and a clever mise-en-scène that inverts the expected film noir metaphor (here light rules), Insomnia is poised to infuse the contemporary crime-thriller genre with cool Nordic cunning. Skjoldbjaerg's taut pacing and calculated visuals have prompted comparisons to the Coen Brothers. But there is little of the black humor or cartoonish gore of Blood Simple or Fargo here, only a film that manages to be intimate and heart-rending as often as it is cold-blooded.