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| Star Anders W. Berthelsen photoshopped in on some non-existing stairs in front of Denmark's parliament on the poster for Mikkel Serup's Mørkeland |
Following several years of unemployment, journalist Ulrik Torp gets an internship at his old workplace, a national Danish newspaper. He is tasked with an assassination story that seems to have implications involving the ongoing general election...
Mørkeland is written by Marie Østerbye (Player (2013)), adapting the same-titled 2019 novel by Niels Krause-Kjær (Tilskueren (2004)), and directed by Mikkel Serup (Klassefesten 2: Begravelsen (2014)). It is the sequel to Nikolaj Arcel's great thriller King's Game/Kongekabale (2004), which was also a Krause-Kjær adaptation. The title translates to 'darkland'.
The novelist has finished two books more since 2019's Mørkeland, and one wonders as a spectator if this film took too long to get made, or was the wrong novel to adapt to begin with, because in any case it comes out as somewhat redundant in today's post-COVID, Ukraine War beset Europe. Denmark's political scandals in the last several years have revolved around its overly powerful, self-governed prime minister and her even less rationally controlled, (sometimes dangerously out-of-control) chief of staff and close friend, that are the very center of Denmark's democratic power. Yet in Mørkeland's alternate universe the threat for most of the film is a tiny right-wing party that struggles to get past the 2 % support barrier to actually obtain MPs, - we are never introduced to any of the more central politicians of the country's election race, - and in fact everything somehow revolves around this tiny, insignificant party. This is an odd plot-line that may have been partly relevant - before the Trump presidency, COVID and several other things happened.
Anders W. Berthelsen (Ditte & Louise (2018)) is back as Torp, with more skin flaps and larger old-man ears, a few more pounds, an actor positively freed from glamouring himself up with procedures and fitness torture, (it is appreciated!), and his journalist look is still very much spot-on. The surrounding cast is competent but that's about it, as their characters are mostly drained of the juice that is wit, humor or personality. There are neat exterior shots of traffic in motion and the film's thriller score (by the completely unknown trio Elvin Matz, Aramis Silvereke and Alexander Weslund (Houseplants, short (2023, all))) is perhaps its best component. Did these three actually make this score? In the age of AI, one is naturally suspicious.
SPOILER The movie's surprise twist is that the real villains are really (deep state) mainstream thinkers (including ex-intelligence agents) who believe they better quell the electorate's right-wing leanings and secure EU stability. Real-world Denmark has had vocal, big right-wing parties with power for decades, so this fantasy seems more than a bit far-fetched. And the relevant political scandals of much bigger proportions (that could have been tackled) are standing in a very long line around the block.
Mørkeland, in short, shrinks compared to King's Game. But the execution isn't terrible.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown, projected 30 mil. DKK
Box office: 11.5 mil. DKK and counting
= Too early to say
[Mørkeland was released 22 August (Denmark) and runs 99 minutes. The film has been #1 for 2 weekends in Denmark and sold 137k tickets so far, but it plays in Biografklub Danmark/'cinema club Denmark', meaning that at least half the tickets are sold at half prize. It opens in Sweden, its only slated foreign market, 13 September. Serup does not have his next film announced yet. Berthelsen returns in Børnene fra Sølvgade (2024). 160 IMDb users have given Mørkeland a 6.3/10 average rating.]
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