The Last Viking is a 2025 Danish black comedy, written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen. It had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival last August and was released in the UK on 26 June.

Cornered bank robber, Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) entrusts his brother, Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen), to take the money stolen in a robbery and bury it in the forest near to their mother’s house. Fifteen years later, upon his release from prison, he discovers that Manfred has mental-health issues: he thinks he is John Lennon; if he is addressed as Manfred, rather than John, he attempts to harm himself in a violent manner. In addition, he cannot remember exactly where the money is buried. So, Anker takes Manfred (John) – no, John (Manfred) – to their mother’s house in a bid to jog his memory. The house is now occupied by Werner (Søren Malling) and his wife Margrethe (Sofie Gråbøl), who have their own issues. Add to the mix Lothar, a psychiatrist (perhaps); Hamdan who thinks he is variously Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Bjorn from Abba and Heinrich Himmler, amongst others; Anton, a deaf drummer who thinks he is Ringo Starr; and Flemming, a dangerous psychopath who was Anka’s partner in the robbery.

I cannot really go any deeper into the plot as it is confused/contrived and utterly hilarious in equal parts. I should add though that, as with all good comedy, there is a serious undercurrent, here relating to delusion generally and specifically to how traumatic events are processed and the long-term damage which can ensue from failing to process them properly.

Anders Thomas Jensen is a class act, both as a director and more particularly as a writer. He was responsible for screenplays of many of the early Dogme ’95 films, including Mifune, The King is Alive, and Open Hearts. His work as a director has a dark comic streak, somewhat reminiscent of the early plays and films of Martin McDonagh, so he is well-suited to this material.

The Last Viking is a very funny film indeed, but one where the principal characters are well fleshed-out and command our sympathy. In any case, with a cast including Mikkelson, Gråbøl, Malling and Kaas it would be hard to go too far wrong.

There is a strange, animated framing mechanism involving a tale of old Vikings (a saga?) which relates a story of the importance of equality at all costs. It is really rather disturbing and leaves me wondering if Jensen is poking fun at the lack of competitive sports in modern primary schools (but maybe that’s just me!)

The Last Viking is a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. I heartily recommend it!