I gotta hand it to director Ric Roman Waugh—I went into Greenland expecting the usual disaster movie fare, and he far exceeded my expectations at every turn. The best compliment that I can give Waugh about what he does in Greenland (with the help of Chris Sparling’s script) is that he not only finds new ways to deliver up catastrophe tropes (or catas-tropes perhaps?) throughout the film, but he also gives viewers a story with a real sense of heart to it that never comes at the expense of immersing us in the enormity of the world-ending scenario at the center of Greenland, either, which is no easy feat. As far as disaster movies go, Greenland is easily one of the best I’ve seen in decades, and I’m so glad I finally caught up with it now.

While the future of all of humanity is at stake in Greenland,...