Barrow newsman Adam Carlson (John Krasinski) can’t wait to escape the northern tip of Alaska for a bigger market. But just when the story of his career breaks, the world comes chasing it too. With an oil tycoon, heads of state and hungry journalists descending upon the frigid outpost to get their moment in the midnight sun, the one person who occupies Adam the most is Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore). Not only is she an outspoken environmentalist, she also happens to be his ex-girlfriend.

With time running out, Rachel, Adam and Nathan (Ahmaogak Sweeney), an 11-year-old native Alaskan boy who learns to connect with his people and his culture, must rally an unlikely coalition of locals, oil companies and Russian and American military to set aside their differences and unite for a purpose they all believe in: freeing the whales in record time.

As the world’s attention turns to the top of the globe for two weeks, saving these endangered animals becomes a shared cause for nations entrenched against one another and leads to an unexpected, momentary thaw in the Cold War.

Alaska Natives and Supporting Cast

Once the professional cast was in place, the task of finding Alaska-native actors to play the film’s essential Iñupiat tribal roles lay ahead for director Ken Kwapis and local casting directors Deborah Schildt and Grace Olrun. They scheduled auditions that took them on a journey to all corners of the vast state, from the southern forests of Juneau to the Arctic Circle and beyond.

Several major Alaska-native

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About the author

Claudia Sondergaard
Specialised in American foreign policy media discourse, I have a real passion for media and writing and feel comfortable in subjects such as human rights, politics, environment, social issues, movies, TV and books. Reporting from Denmark. Follow me @swirlgirlversus