Anders Thomas Jensen’s The Last Viking arrives combining dark comedy mixed with crime, family dysfunction, and cartoonish bloodshed. Fresh out of prison after a long stretch for bank robbery, Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) tracks down his mentally fragile brother Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen), the only person who knows where the stolen loot was buried. Manfred, however, has retreated into delusion—believing himself to be John Lennon—and the brothers’ quest for the cash becomes a meandering road trip through trauma, violence, and strained sibling bonds.
Jensen has always specialized in this particular brand of Scandinavian absurdism, where cartoon violence, deadpan delivery, and genuine emotion sit side by side without apology. The Last Viking may be his purest distillation yet. The tonal shifts are extreme: one moment you’re watching severed-finger slapstick or a talent-show rehearsal by psychiatric patients convinced they’re the Beatles; the next, a childhood flashback lands with the force of a punch. Somehow the film never loses its balance. The violence is cartoonish enough to keep the comedy breathing, while the brotherly bond at the center remains sincere.
Is the movie perfect? Not quite. Some of the absurdist scenes threaten to tip into pure silliness, and the crime elements occasionally feel like scaffolding rather than essential structure. A few viewers will find the tonal shifts exhausting rather than exhilarating.
Jensen’s unhinged film has it’s entertaining moments. The Last Viking personally would have worked better as a pure crime drama/thriller—stripped of the forced laughs and the self-conscious quirk. Never the less, it’s weird, bloody, warm, and oddly healing. Strap on your helmet—you’ll need it.
Screening at the 2026 Hurtigrten Nordic Film Festival.
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