Dir: Anders Thomas Jensen, Denmark/Sweden, 2025, 116 mins, Danish/Swedish with subtitles
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Sofie Grabol, Soren Malling, Bodil Jorgensen, Lars Brygmann
Review by Carol Allen
Anker (Kaas) released from prison after 15 years, goes home to his younger brother Manfred (Mikkelson) to whom he entrusted the storage key of the locker where he’s hidden the proceeds of the robbery for which he was jailed. Manfred however, who suffers from a personality disorder, which causes him to believe he is John Lennon, refuses to say where he has hidden the key. And indeed, if somebody calls him Manfred instead of John, this causes him to throw himself from a car or a window with alarming frequency.
The plot develops even more bizarrely when Anker decides to take his brother back to the old family house, where Manfred was told to hide the key, hoping it might jog his memory. Bring on some more colourful characters in the form of the eccentric couple Margethe (Grabol) and Werner (Malling) who now run it as an Airbnb. They are then joined by Lother (Brygmann), a doctor who treated Manfred after one of his identity jumps. Lother comes up with the plan to import a couple of psychiatric patients, who also think they are Beatles to form a tribute band with Manfred and perhaps jog his memory.
Sounds like all good clean fun? Well no, because as the now bewildered Anker searches for the key, being back at the family home revives dark memories of the boys’ childhood, when they were bullied and abused by their father (Lars Ranthe). Plus a very nasty type called Fleming (Nicolas Bro), Anker’s partner in the robbery, who wants the money and will do anything to get it.
The film is a strange mixture, a tricky subject which has fun with the subject of mental illness without being offensive, includes some disturbing scenes of violence against women and children, yet manages to be funny, touching and disturbing through all of these changes of mood, which director Jensen somehow smoothly knits together as a whole.
The film is also beautifully acted. Kaas shows us Anker’s vulnerability beneath the tough guy exterior, while Madsen as Manfred is blackly funny in his delusion but both strong and touching as the unbreakable bond between the brothers is revealed. While Brygmann as the psychiatrist, who’s as nutty as the mock Beatles band he imports, is a delight.
This unusual mixture of offbeat comedy, tragedy and dark violence may not be to everyone’s taste. But I found it a most unusual, courageous and very engaging film experience.
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