The Last Viking (2025 film)

The Last Viking (2025 film)

The Last Viking (Danish: Den sidste viking) is a 2025 black comedy film written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen. It stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Mads Mikkelsen. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2025. It received a theatrical release in Denmark on 9 October 2025.

Premise

The Last Viking (2025 film)

Before serving a 15-year prison sentence for bank robbery, Anker entrusts his brother, Manfred, to bury the heist money in the forest by their mother's house for safekeeping. Upon his release, Anker is frustrated to find that Manfred has since developed dissociative identity disorder (DID) with suicidal tendencies and cannot recall where he hid the money bag.

Manfred is shown to have multiple personalities such as believing himself to be John Lennon, a member of the English rock band The Beatles. When addressed as "Manfred" - and not as "John" - he hurls himself through the nearest open window or does some other harm to himself.

On one drunken night, Anker meets psychiatrist Lothar who devises a plan to cure Manfred by letting him play out his personality as John Lennon with mental patients who identify as the other members of The Beatles. Once he regains his sobriety the next morning, Anker rejects this plan.

Anker then attempts to refresh Manfred's memory by travelling to their mother's house, assuming that Manfred buried the money at a specific spot in the forest as Anker instructed him 15 years prior.

Cast

The Last Viking (2025 film)

• Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Anker • Mads Mikkelsen as Manfred / John Lennon • Sofie Gråbøl as Margrethe • Søren Malling as Werner • Bodil Jørgensen as Freja • Lars Brygmann as Lothar • Kardo Razzazi as Hamdan • Nicolas Bro as Flemming • Peter Düring as Anton • Lars Ranthe as Father • Anette Støvelbæk as Dr. Halberg

Production

The Last Viking (2025 film)

Originally titled Back to Reality, the film marks the sixth collaboration between Anders Thomas Jensen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, and Mads Mikkelsen, preceded by Riders of Justice, Adam’s Apples, Flickering Lights, The Green Butchers, and Men & Chicken. Principal photography began on 19 August 2024. Filming took place over seven weeks in Denmark and Sweden, specifically in Funen and a forest near Tollered.

Release

The Last Viking (2025 film)

TrustNordisk owns the international sales rights to the film, which was pre-sold to Neue Visionen for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; September Film for the Benelux; Plaion for Italy, Estinfilm for the Baltics; Vertigo Média for Hungary; Best Film for Poland; Film Europe for the Czech Republic and Slovakia; and September Film Rights for Singapore. On 10 February 2025, the film was acquired by Starcat Cable Network for Japan. On 12 May 2025, the film was acquired by Avalon for Spain, Videorama for Greece, and Beta Film for Bulgaria. On 19 September 2025, the film was acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for distribution in the United States.

A promotional clip was released on 29 August 2025. The film had its world premiere out of competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2025. It received a theatrical release in Denmark on 9 October 2025.

Reception

The Last Viking (2025 film)

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 16 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".