Number 24 Plot Summary
Part biographical drama, part thought provoking thriller, Number 24 (Nr 24) is a Norwegian film that pays homage to the country’s most decorated individual in the best way possible. With an interesting structure of moving between the then-present and war-time, the story of Gunnar Sønsteby is retold through two separate storylines that interweave together into a beautiful crescendo of acting and wartime drama.
The film opens with a seemingly innocuous meeting of two men up on a mountainside, discussing ideals and the cost of freedom. One of these men happens to be Gunnar Sønsteby, and he’s with his pal, Erling Solheim.
Fast forward to 1940 and Germany invade Norway, marching into Oslo with around 800 men and taking the country by force. Young apprentice Gunnar is not happy and decides to resist the Nazi-Germany forces, determined to protect and fight for his country’s freedom – no matter the cost.
This story then eventually sees him become the figurehead of the resistance in Norway, which eventually sees him meet with the King and, subsequently, embark on a ton of sabotage missions to push the Nazis out of Norway for good.
How bad were the Norwegian Nazis?
According to Gunnar’s own account, the Norwegian Nazis were apparently worse than the German Nazis in their methods. They also had their own holocaust camps too, and even worse, some Norwegians were working alongside the Nazis, making it incredibly difficult to know who to trust.
After one of his comrades is tortured into giving his name up, Gunnar ends up public enemy number 1. He manages to get trained up after meeting the head of the resistance, becoming an instrument to be used to thwart the Nazis. He’s not easily deterred by the usual vices like women or alcohol, so he’s the perfect asset for the rebels to wield.
What is the inciting incident here?
Gunnar’s first big sabotage stems from blowing up a building but the next day, the papers don’t report on this. This brings up the eerie parallels to current day given the age of misinformation. Gunnar even has to carry grenades round with him because the Nazis know his name, a precaution to take in case he’s captured. This really shows the extreme lengths he’s willing to go to make sure his mission remains intact and he doesn’t given away any of his secrets. As Gunnar himself alludes to in this movie, you can never truly know how you’ll react to torture, and nobody would think less of those who give up information under the harshest of circumstances.
Gunnar is so prolific in this role that he meets the King too, who encourages Gunnar to keep sabotaging no matter what, essentially pleading with him to kick the Germans out. This helps spur Gunnar on, but unfortunately his two close comrades, Tallak and Greggers are killed.
With Gunnar not around, they made contact with two German deserters from the Luftwaffe. Or, they thought they were deserted. Turns out, they were actually Nazis and both men were tragically killed. Tallak was shot in the face and miraculously survived but ended up taken to be tortured. Tallak didn’t want to betray Gunnar and the others though, instead choosing to commit suicide instead.
Who does Gunnar kill?
This then sets up a more extreme set of missions for Gunnar Sønsteby to undertake. He’s next tasked with killing Gunnar Lindvig, a Nazi, and he takes Andreas alongside him for this mission. Andreas is loyal after his brother was killed by the Nazis under duress. This is one of many men Gunnar killed, but our protagonist remains steadfast when questioned in the present that this is the right move to preserve freedom for his country no matter what.
The contentious case here comes from Karl Marthinsen. He’s responsible for the concentration camps in Norway and happens to be the biggest mass murderer in Norwegian history, so of course he had to die. Unfortunately, the Germans took revenge and murdered 28 Norwegian men, both resistance fighters and innocent bystanders. This immediately throws big doubts over Gunnar’s mission, and whether his actions endangered more Norwegians than necessary.
Who is Erling Solheim?
Erling Solheim is actually related to one of the women in the crowd during the present-day talk. It turns out he was a man that intended to rat out Gunnar and several others from the resistance movement to the police. Gunnar being the head of the resistance movement at this point, decided that he needed to be “taken care of” in order to keep their dreams of freedom alive.
Erling, in his letter intercepted by the resistance, goes on to claim he has information on Sonsteby, Haughland and Heiberg. Given they intercept the letter, Gunnar orchestrated the entire mission, sending several agents off to pick him up, duping Erling into going with them to the capital, with the promise of a big reward in Oslo. Unfortunately, he’s killed.
Of course, Gunnar knows this man, given he’s his childhood friend whom he was out in the mountains with at the start of the movie. This one action shows just how much Gunnar was willing to give up in order to secure his country’s freedom.
It’s not long after this that Norway is eventually freed from the Nazi shackles, thanks to the end of World War II.
How does Number 24 end?
Back in the present timeline, Gunnar speaks to the student who challenged Gunnar over Erling’s death. Here, alone, Gunnar does eventually reveal the truth about what happened, but it pains him to talk about it, and he has to have some gentle persuasion to face his past demons.
This ties back into the start of the movie, where Gunnar himself mentioned his “five drawers” which relate to different parts of his memory. The fifth and final drawer is the bottom one, something he’s kept closed since May 8th 1945. This is how he’s managed to keep going all this time, but of course, for others they don’t acclimatize to the horrors of the war quite so easily.
Andreas started drinking heavily on Liberation Day and didn’t stop before shooting himself in 1965.
What happened to Gunnar?
Gunnar was never arrested by the Germans. In fact he conducted more than 20 sabotage missions during the war and is the highest decorated Norwegian citizen, He’s also the only one to receive the war cross with three swords. Gunnar married his beloved, Anne-Karin, in 1953, and has spent 7 years of his life helping those who have struggled with the effects of the war.
This remarkable man, who has always vowed to do what he can for the freedom of his country, did what he set out to do in his life, bowing out his legacy as the prolific Number 24.
Would someone please write out all the text history story at the end? It goes by so fast and pausing misses.
Jona asked “who met Gunnar in 1998 as it states at the end of the movie.” I believe that was a subtitle of the conversation in the scene after the talk, that one of the persons in that cluster was mentioning his first meeting with Gunnar.
Garry Mueller asked if Erling Solheim really existed. Near the end of the movie at about 1:45 there is a photo of the letter and a subtitle stating that Norway’s Home Front Museum has a copy of Erling Solheim’s letter on display.
Good movie! Amazing the many unsung hero there were in wwII
I can’t figure out who met Gunnar in 1998 as it states at end of movie. It never said how met him then. Anyone know
Great movie. Stumbled upon it yesterday, didn’t realize it was just released on 1/1/2025! I’m going to be watching it again. Did the character Erling really exist or was it added for dramatic effect. Wikipedia doesn’t mention this action.