A wild, darkly comic crime dramedy that leans into absurdity, brutality, and emotional damage in equal measure. It sounds messy by design, but for viewers who like offbeat Scandinavian humor and morally scrambled brother stories, that chaos is the appeal.
After serving fourteen years for robbery, Anker is released from prison and reunites with his mentally ill brother Manfred, who alone knows where the stolen money is hidden but has forgotten its location, sending them on a journey to recover the loot and confront who they are.
Director
Anders Thomas Jensen
Production
Zentropa Entertainments, Film i Väst, Zentropa International Sweden
Cast
Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Sofie Gråbøl, Søren Malling, Bodil Jørgensen, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro, Kardo Razzazi, Peter Düring, Lars Ranthe, Rikke Louise Andersson, Alfred Røssel Læsø, Joel Hesse Johansen, Nomi Bodnia, Anette Støvelbæk, Lila Nobel, Bue Wandahl, Susanne Breuning, Klaus Tilsted Søndergaard, Benjamin Kitter
Curator Review
Verdict
A wild, darkly comic crime dramedy that leans into absurdity, brutality, and emotional damage in equal measure. It sounds messy by design, but for viewers who like offbeat Scandinavian humor and morally scrambled brother stories, that chaos is the appeal.
Best for
fans of bleak black comedy
viewers who like crime stories with emotional baggage
people who enjoy absurdist, deadpan Scandinavian films
audiences open to violence mixed with pathos
Skip if
you want a cleanly plotted heist movie
you dislike tonal whiplash
you’re sensitive to jokes around mental illness or suicide
you prefer straightforward emotional realism
Overview
Anders Thomas Jensen’s brand of storytelling is on full display here: a crime premise that keeps mutating into something stranger, sadder, and funnier than expected. The setup is simple enough—two brothers chasing stolen money—but the film seems more interested in identity, family damage, and the bizarre ways people survive their own histories.
Worth noting
The tone, by most accounts, is intentionally unruly. It mixes deadpan comedy, sudden violence, and emotional melodrama, which will feel exhilarating to some and abrasive to others. That push-pull is the point: the movie wants you laughing at the absurdity one moment and bracing for pain the next.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a grimy, eccentric, very Danish crime fable with a strong sense of the ridiculous, this should land well. If you need emotional restraint or tonal consistency, it may feel like a provocation rather than a payoff.
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