Mads Mikkelsen’s new movie has garnered glowing reviews from the critics, leading to a strong score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Last Viking is a black comedy movie written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen. Besides Mikkelsen, the cast includes Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Frankenstein), Sofie Gråbøl, and Søren Malling. Set in modern times, the plot revolves around two brothers, Anker (Kaas) and Manfred / John (Mikkelsen).
What critics are saying about The Last Viking in reviews
The Last Viking has favorable responses from critics. James Mottram of Radio Times wrote,
“Mikkelsen is glorious, but so is Kaas as a man with serious anger management problems. Somehow, despite the bloodshed, this is a genuinely sweet story about sibling love.”
Jason Bailey of RogerEbert.com also gave the movie a positive review. “The Last Viking sports a cockeyed streak a mile wild, trafficking in the best kind of straight-faced absurdism—wry, but simultaneously genuine and sincere,” Bailey wrote.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Caryn James praised Jensen’s direction. “Few directors would be able to juggle genres and navigate shifts in tone as fluidly as Jensen does here,” James shared. “On paper none of it should work… but this unlikely film is consistently entertaining, weird, and ultimately touching.”
Elsewhere, writing for IndieWire, Christian Zilko underscored how Mikkelsen and Kaas’s previous collaborations with Jensen. “After co-starring in six of Jensen’s films together, Kaas and Mikkelsen rely on their hard-earned chemistry to explore all of the small cracks in the relationship without ever devolving into gimmickry,” Zilko noted.
The Last Viking gets a solid score on Rotten Tomatoes
At the time of this article’s composition, The Last Viking has a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes after 31 reviews. The movie originally premiered on August 30, 2025, at the 82nd annual Venice International Film Festival. It subsequently debuted in Denmark on October 9, 2025. It comes out in the US in theaters and on Digital and On Demand on May 29, 2026 (via ScreenRant).
Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on ComingSoon.
