Welcome back to another year of BEHIND THE LENS and BTLRadioShow!! I’m excited to be back and kick off Year 12 of #BTLRadioShow and am beyond thrilled to start the new year with a very special guest and talk about the absolute “Must See” film of 2026. And that guest is none other than my friend of 40+ years – director RIC ROMAN WAUGH – and that film is GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION.
Action, deep palpable emotion, practical in-camera action, explosions. (Ric loves pyrotechnics. Just think ANGEL HAS FALLEN and KANDAHAR). His films are always emotionally layered and capture all the shades of grey, both sides of the coin. And now with the next chapter of “Greenland“, GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION, Ric tops his own level of excellence with more depth, humanity, and breathtaking action than ever before.
I’ll be honest with you. GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION is the first film Ric has ever done that made me ugly cry AND put me on the edge of my seat with terror, fear, and quite a few jump scares. This film is a perfect marriage of action, practical effects, incredible camera work by Martin Ahlgren, keen editing, and superb performances. Then ice it all with David Buckley’s score, and you have perfection. GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION is award-worthy on multiple levels.
As you all may recall, 5 years ago, we saw Comet Clarke decimate the earth in “Greenland,” and we followed the Garrity family as they fought to make it to safety in underground bunkers in Greenland. Definitely action-packed, nail-biting tension. Now, 5 years later, we are again following the Garrity family – John, Allison, and their son Nathan, this time as they’re forced to leave the safety of their bunker in Greenland to traverse a shattered world in search of a new home. Radiation from Clarke, although abating somewhat, has permeated the earth for the past 5 years, making it unsafe to go outside of the bunkers unless suited up. There are pockets of survivors around the globe -but as the immediate effects of Clarke have died down somewhat, new challenges have surfaced with changed polarity of the earth and the tides, ongoing sporadic fractures of the comet still crash into the earth, earthquakes, tidal waves. Even military communications are spotty at best. So what does John Garrity do when his family is once again in immediate danger and forced out into “the world and the contaminated air”? He fights for their survival. And what a fight it is.
Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin are back as John and Allison Garrity, and Roman Griffin Davis steps in as their now 15-year-old son, Nathan. You may remember Roman Griffin Davis from his scene-stealing performance in Taika Waititi’s “JoJo Rabbit”, so you know he’s got the chops to stand tall with Gerard Butler.
Just before Christmas, Ric and I had the opportunity to chat about GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION. Now, any of you who have heard our prior conversations know that we can chat for a long time. LOL! This go round, we were only given about 30 minutes, but we covered quite a bit into Ric’s vision and directorial process for this film.
Highlighting the emotional integrity of GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION with a focus on family resilience and hope, the film explores the aftermath of the comet’s impact, emphasizing human connection and survival. As you’ll hear, Ric has nothing but praise for his cinematographer, Martin Ahlgren, particularly his use of low light and developing contrast. (Martin is also the DP on Ric’s next film, coming out on January 30th, “Shelter” starring Jason Statham.) Ric also discusses one of the big challenges with GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION, which is integrating visual effects with practical sets and action. Always a standout in a Ric Waugh film, and here it is no different, is the work of Ric’s longtime collaborator, production designer Vincent Reynaud.
In GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION, Ric builds every aesthetic choice around three intertwined ideas: hope, legacy, and the shift from mere survival to actually living. Visually, the film moves from the gray, claustrophobic bunker into a world where color and clarity slowly return, echoing his research into how “Mother Nature rebounded when it was scorched completely black,” from Australia’s fires to Chernobyl’s Red Forest. Thematically, he frames this chapter not as a disaster sequel but as an existential next step, asking, “What we’re all striving for is, what is our legacy… what’s our legacy to leave this planet in a different place, in better shape when it’s been destroyed, and we’re starting back from scratch.” That philosophical weight sits on a deeply human axis — a family, a son, and a future — as Ric pushes the story “from surviving… to living again, you know, to actually living your life versus just trying to hold on and survive,” with David Buckley’s poignant, voice driven score and an angelic, hope filled finale cue amplifying the emotional journey.
As we break it all down, Ric and I dig deep into every element of the film. Take a listen as RIC ROMAN WAUGH discusses GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION.
What a way to kick off our 12th year of BEHIND THE LENS! Wow! And make sure to check out behindthelensonline.net for a detailed written version of the interview, as well as my review of GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION and many other new interviews and reviews. And make sure to tune in again next week when I’m talking SHEEPDOG with writer/director STEVEN GRAYHM.
GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION opens in theatres on January 9, 2026.
