The Last Viking
Anker walks out of prison after 15 years with a single goal: find the buried money he and his brother Manfred hid before everything collapsed. The problem is that Manfred's mind has reorganized itself. He can't remember where it is—and he's not faking.
That setup could be a heist thriller. Instead, it becomes something weirder and more honest: a portrait of two brothers trying to locate each other across a gulf of mental illness, trauma, and time. No slick genre mechanics. No clever robbery choreography. Just two damaged men and the wreckage of a shared past, told through dark comedy that doesn't betray either the darkness or the comedy.
What makes The Last Viking work: chemistry, tonal control, and why critics are saying yes
Anders Thomas Jensen wrote and directed this film—and if his name doesn't mean much yet, know that Riders of Justice (2020) earned serious critical respect by being simultaneously a revenge thriller, a grief study, and an absurdist comedy without flinching away from any of those modes. The Last Viking appears to be operating in that same register, maybe pushed further.
The cast is where you stop first. Mads Mikkelsen plays Manfred, the brother whose condition becomes fully apparent to Anker in a scene that shifts from something almost farcical to genuinely sad in about thirty seconds—tonal whiplash that doesn't feel manipulative because it feels true. Nikolaj Lie Kaas plays Anker as the man searching for answers that keep slipping away. According to Flixchatter's MSPIFF 2026 review, Mikkelsen displays genuine comic chops—which might surprise people who know him primarily from noir thrillers and prestige dramas. The supporting ensemble includes Sofie Gråbøl, Bodil Jørgensen, Søren Malling, and Nicolas Bro, which is essentially a who's-who of Scandinavian character acting.
What's striking is how much the comedy depends on the drama being real. If the grief or the mental illness were played for easy sympathy, the jokes wouldn't land. They'd just feel cruel. But Jensen trusts his actors to hold both registers at once, and Kaas and Mikkelsen—who've worked together before—have a chemistry that makes the tonal shifts feel earned rather than jarring.
The thing nobody mentions enough is that this isn't a film about people solving a problem. It's a film about people who are completely dysfunctional on their own but find something like functionality—or at least mutual survival—when they're together. That paradox is harder to pull off than it sounds.
The production behind it, and how it's been received
Production came from Zentropa Entertainments and Film i Väst—Zentropa being the house that Lars von Trier built, a reliable signal that a film is operating with genuine creative ambition. Runtime is 116 minutes. The film carries a Metascore of 82/100 and an IMDb rating of 7.2 from over 11,000 votes, along with 3 wins and 15 nominations across festivals and ceremonies.
That's notable because the film only began its theatrical rollout on May 29, 2026, through Samuel Goldwyn Films in limited theaters and on digital the same day. Early critical response has been strongly positive—Film Ireland praised the film's balance of humor and drama, with multiple reviewers flagging Mikkelsen's comedic range specifically. Hard to say if those scores will shift as more reviews trickle in across regions, but the festival trajectory suggests the numbers will hold.
What's striking is how the thematic material never feels like a checklist. Mental illness, childhood trauma, the alter egos we construct to survive incarceration or grief—Jensen keeps returning to these because he clearly hasn't finished working through them. There's no sense of "we've checked the prestige-drama boxes." It feels rooted in something more personal than that.
Where to watch The Last Viking right now
The Last Viking premiered theatrically and digitally on May 29, 2026, through Samuel Goldwyn Films—which means streaming access arrived the same day as the theatrical window, rather than after a delay. The film is currently available on major OTT services.
Movie OTT's where-to-watch tracker shows current streaming availability by region, updated as distribution rights are confirmed in new territories. Use the widget at the top of this page to see live platform availability for your location. If you're outside the US or in a region where Samuel Goldwyn Films doesn't have distribution yet, Movie OTT will flag which local platforms have picked it up as those deals are announced—no need to check Netflix, Amazon, Hulu separately.
Should you watch it? And what to watch after
The Last Viking is for anyone who found Riders of Justice or In a Better World too tidy—which is to say, it's for people who want their dark comedies to actually be dark, and their dramas to have a sense of humor about themselves. If you're the kind of person who reads "two brothers, buried money, mental illness, dark comedy" and feels interested rather confused, this'll work for you. It won't work for viewers expecting a clean genre film.
If you watch The Last Viking, follow it with Riders of Justice—Jensen's 2020 film covers similar thematic ground (trauma, fractured identity, men on the margins) but as a revenge thriller. Start with one, then the other. Each builds on the experience of the previous film without repeating it.
The film isn't rated, so there's no MPAA classification to guide expectations. The content involves crime, mental illness, and dark humor that earns its edge. It's not family viewing (though it's not gratuitous either—the violence and language serve the story rather than existing for their own sake).
FAQ
Q: Where can I watch The Last Viking?
On major OTT services following the May 29, 2026 release via Samuel Goldwyn Films. Check your region's availability using Movie OTT—the platform tracker updates as new streaming deals are confirmed.
Q: Who stars in The Last Viking, and who made it?
Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas carry the film. Anders Thomas Jensen wrote and directed. The supporting cast includes Sofie Gråbøl, Bodil Jørgensen, Søren Malling, and Nicolas Bro.
Q: How long is it?
116 minutes. Not rated.
Q: Is it based on a true story?
No—it's an original screenplay. The story of two brothers, a bank robbery, and buried money is fictional, though Jensen's recurring thematic interests (trauma, fractured identity, crime) feel rooted in something deeper than pure invention.
Q: How's it been reviewed?
Very well. Metascore 82/100, IMDb 7.2 from over 11,000 votes, 3 wins and 15 nominations across festivals. Critics praised the Mikkelsen-Kaas chemistry and Jensen's tonal control specifically.
Q: What if I haven't seen Riders of Justice?
Start with The Last Viking. You don't need the previous film to understand this one—but watching them back-to-back will deepen how you experience both.
The hardest thing to do in filmmaking is make something that's genuinely funny and genuinely sad without one betraying the other. Jensen does it. If you've got 116 minutes and you're tired of movies that choose one emotional register and stick with it for two hours, Movie OTT has everything you need to find it tonight.
