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"Why this sudden love of truth?" This is the question that launches the complicated dialogue of Baltasar Kormakur's beautifully complex, moody film about a dysfunctional family in Iceland. The utterly chilling opener in which a dilapidated fishery bursts into violent flames and burns, against the backdrop of a snow and rain storm, sets the tone for the volatile story that is to follow. Thordur Haraldsson (Gunnar Eyjofsson) is the head of a diverse and distant family, all of whom are returning the small village where Thordur still runs the family fishery. The youngest son, Agust (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason), and his pregnant girlfriend are traveling from Paris, and Agust's cousin Maria (Nina Dogg Filippusdottir) nervously awaits his arrival. Ragnheidur (Gudrun S. Gisladottir), the embittered daughter, shows up in a new car with her spoiled son and snobby husband. Meanwhile Haraldur (Sigurdur Skulason) is the one son who has stayed by his father's side, advising him in business matters and encouraging him to sell the defunct fishery and retire to Reykjavik. When the family comes together to discuss the future of the business, difficult memories intermingle with too many drinks and things get ugly, fast. All the while, director-producer-writer Kormakur keeps the intense mood of the film at a constant low roar, contrasting shots of Iceland's dramatic volcanic-glacial terrain and crystal-clear hot springs with the darkness of THE SEA'S desperate characters.