Darkly dramatic Danish dreamboat Mads Mikkelsen stars in this unusual historical drama.
How to watch The Promised Land in the UK
The Promised Land is available to rent or buy in the UK at all the usual vendors.
The Promised Land
What is The Promised Land about?
We find ourselves in Denmark, circa 1755, where hard-bitten, impoverished soldier Captain Ludvig Kahlen (played by you know who) retires from military service and scores a royal commission to tame a patch of land on the desolate Jutland moors. If he’s successful, he’ll be granted a noble title—but first he has to contend with both the harsh environment and brutal local landowner and magistrate, Frederik Schinkel. It’s sort of a Western (maybe it’s a Northern?), so think bloody violence and grim vengeance rather than courtly costume drama.
The cast of The Promised Land
Mads Mikkelsen is Ludwig Kahlen, Amanda Collin (Raised by Wolves) is love interest Ann Barbara, Simon Bennebjerg is the antagonistic Frederik Schinkel, and Melina Hagberg, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Morten Hee Andersen, Thomas W. Gabrielsson, Magnus Krepper, Søren Malling, Morten Burian, Jacob Lohmann, Olaf Højgaard, and Felix Kramer round out the ensemble. This one comes to us from director Nikolaj Arcel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Anders Thomas Jensen, adapting the novel The Captain and Ann Barbara by Ida Jessen. It’s their first collaboration since the ill-fated 2017 Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower, but don’t worry—it’s actually watchable.
The Promised Land trailer
Why we’re excited about The Promised Land
The last time Arcel and Jensen turned their hand to historical drama we got the excellent A Royal Affair, which also starred Mikkelsen alongside Alicia Vikander. That alone makes The Promised Land worth your attention, and the promise of our man Mads going on a roaring rampage (or stoic glower, perhaps) of revenge at some point in the proceedings is just icing on the cake. We are so in.
