From multi award-winning director John Andreas Andersen (The Burning Sea, The Quake), NUMBER 24 is a gripping new spy drama depicting the extraordinary true story of a modest young ‘every-man’ drawn into the resistance movement during World War II.
Rjukan, Norway: present day. An elderly man, Gunnar Sønsteby (Erik Hivju), prepares to address a group of students about what really happened during occupation. He’s given his speech many times before, but it’s clear that accessing these difficult memories still gives him immeasurable pause.
1940, the German war machine has invaded Norway, and 22-year-old accountant Gunnar (Sjur Vatne Brean, in a star-making turn) immediately offers his services to the resistance. Single minded and rarely flustered, Gunnar’s meticulous planning and talent for espionage soon sees him head up the Oslo-gang, carrying out - in concert with remote assistance from Britain's MI5 - increasingly daring and nerve-wracking sabotage operations, and putting himself in the direct crosshairs of the Gestapo and its Norwegian conspirators.
Suspenseful and expertly crafted, with numerous clock-ticking action set-pieces, NUMBER 24 compellingly probes the morality of wartime, depicting the weight of responsibility and the emotional toll required for freedom. Indeed, the story of Gunnar – an unremarkable man called upon to take a stand against encroaching tyranny – has, unfortunately, never been more relevant.