Red Skies: Rogue
| Red Skies: Rogue | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster | |
| Directed by | Svante Haugen |
| Starring |
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Production companies | A42 Films |
Release dates | 25 May 2022 (Acrea) 4 June 2022 (International) |
Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | Acrea |
| Languages | Nordic and French |
| Budget | ƒ170 million |
| Box office | ƒ994 million |
Red Skies: Rogue (Acrean Nordic: Röda Himmel: Rogue) is 2022 Acrean military action drama film directed by Svante Haugen. A prequel to Red Skies II and the third installment in the Red Skies series, the film stars Lucy Vikander as Charlotte "Rogue" Veille reprising her role from the second film, alongside Erik Stormare, Matthias Bergman, and Noomi Castel also reprising their roles. The film departs from the previous two in depicting real-life events, and follows Rogue five years before the events of the second film during events prior to and during the start of the Midsummer War.
The film was released theatrically in Acrea on 25 May 2022, and internationally on 4 June 2022, to widespread critical acclaim.
Cast
- Lucy Vikander as LT Charlotte "Rogue" Veille, a young naval aviator arriving at her first operational fleet squadron, VMF-41 which is set to go on a sea tour aboard the aircraft carrier RAS Oceana.
- Erik Stormare as LT Mikael "Nomad" Ström, an EF-181E pilot who graduated training alongside Rogue and is assigned to the same squadron as Rogue.
- Mikkel Skovgaard as CDR Vidar "Pyro" Wolff, a senior EF-181E pilot who is the commander of VMF-41.
- Matthias Bergman as CAPT Niklaus "Nico" Vanger, an EF-181E pilot and flight leader in VMF-41.
- Finn Mikkelsen as CAPT Jos "Ozon" Ahrendt, an EF-181E pilot and flight leader in VMF-41, who is a hometown friend of Rogue.
- Noomi Castel as Aimée Lavigne, the owner and bartender at the local officers' club at Narbonne Naval Air Station (MFS Narbonne).
Plot
During an evening in 2001, a nine-year old Charlotte Veille explores her father's study, looking at the plaques, awards, and photos from his time as a Navy pilot. After he finds her, she asks about a photo of him and his squadron in front of a jet taken when they were stationed aboard the aircraft carrier RAS Stavanger during the Refusal War. Charlotte's father shares a story about him and his squadronmates, and when Charlotte asks him about his time in the Navy he is hesitant to reply and simply stares at the photograph of his old squadron. After Charlotte presses him, he tells her that it was the best and worst time of his life. Whilst playing with a friend in the front yard of her home on the rural southern coast of Côte d'Or the next day, Charlotte is distracted by a pair of Navy fighter jets flying relatively low from the nearby Narbonne and is unable to take her eyes off of them until they disappear over the horizon.
Fourteen years later, a now twenty-three year old Charlotte is abruptly awoken by her alarm. She is a new arrival at Narbonne Naval Air Station, having been assigned to her first operational squadron after graduating the final steps of her pilot training. On her first full day on base, she reconnects with Mikael Ström, a fellow recent graduate and friend from her class. Together, the two head to their squadron's ready room on the base per their orders, where they meet the rest of the squadron. There they are first introduced to Captain Niklaus "Nico" Vanger, a relatively cocky pilot several years their senior who already has one recorded kill. They also meet Commander Vidar "Pyro" Wolff, the squadron's leader. Charlotte is pleasantly surprised to find Captain Jos "Ozon" Ahrendt who she went to school with in her hometown, and who was close friends with her older broth. They learn from Ozone that Pyro is one of the most experienced pilots on base, being a veteran of the Zemplen War as well as a NATC graduate and former instructor with four kills under his belt. After introductions for the new pilots are made, Pyro announces that they're going to be having a proper welcome that night at the base's officers' club, with no exceptions.
That night at the officers' club, Charlotte and Mikael arrive to find a packed bar. Unlike the stricter bars from their base during training, the officers' club at Narbonne is open to public patrons as well, and also has a number of Air Force officers who are instructors and students at NATC. They find their way to the rest of the squadron who has already claimed a table. Over drinks, the squadron banters and tells stories, with Mikael talking about how his family always moved around when he was young due to his father's military career and Ozone sharing a story from when he, Charlotte, and Charlotte's brother were kids about Charlotte's rebellious and reckless attitude as a child. Pyro ends the story time by announcing to Charlotte and Mikael that there was another reason why they were there. Now that the pair were at their squadron, it was finally time to be given their callsigns. After some brainstorming, the squadron agrees on callsigns for them; Mikael is given the callsign Nomad, while Charlotte is named Rogue.
While at the bar getting another drink, Charlotte meets an Air Force Vampyr pilot and NATC student who introduces himself as