Lords of Chaos

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2:16

Lords of Chaos

R

Released Feb 8, 2019

1h 52m

Comedy

Drama

Music

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

73 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In 1987 Oslo, 17-year-old Euronymous becomes fixated on creating "true Norwegian black metal" with his band Mayhem. He mounts shocking publicity stunts to put the band's name on the map, but the lines between show and reality begin to blur.

Critics Consensus

Lords of Chaos presents a grimly compelling dramatization of a real-life music scene whose aggressively nihilistic aesthetic spilled over into fatal acts of violence.

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Luca Cimarusti

Chicago Reader

It only makes sense that one of the strangest stories in rock 'n' roll history has come back to life as one of the strangest movies you'll ever see.

Mar 11, 2020

Full Review

Mark Kermode

Kermode & Mayo's Film Review

It's odd [and] not entirely successful.

Apr 3, 2019

Full Review

Tara Brady

Irish Times

Working from a screenplay co-written with Dennis Magnusson, Åkerlund accentuates the squabbling, misogynist club-house mentality of what became the "Black Circle".

Rated: 4/5

Mar 30, 2019

Full Review

Dolores Quintana

Dolores Quintana

I think Åkerlund was the right person to direct this film. His sense of style, evident in Polar, is used incredibly well in LORDS OF CHAOS. His understanding of human behavior also is spot on.

Dec 28, 2022

Full Review

Emma Wolfe

SpookyAstronauts

A dark story about egos, self-image, destruction, and of course a very interesting story.

Rated: 8/10

Dec 17, 2020

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Tom Beasley

VultureHound

Åkerlund is able to helm pure horror, deadpan comedy and the sweaty, oppressive feel of a metal gig with equal aplomb.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 15, 2020

Full Review

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Jason W

Great visually with some nice shots. Way too long though as I was waiting for it to end. Rory Culkin was good. Couldn't take the Varg/Christian character seriously at all, unless he was supposed to be a little grumpy nerd. Didn't care for the animal stuff. Wish it was more about the music instead of the silly kids trying to be scary metal guys, but I guess that's how it was intended to be.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/02/25

Full Review

Oaklee D

I couldn't help but feel like as a Mayhem biopic they could have fleshed it out a little bit more, this film has alot of gore and that's cool but my issue lies with the cast itself. Why not hire Norwegian actors to play Norwegian characters? Instead we are left with a very American cast that takes me out of the moment. This film was ok but could of been much better.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/25

Full Review

Hana B

I saw this movie a few years back and I really enjoyed it since I really like this type of music. I saw many interviews with actual members of this band and most of them said that this movie isn’t accurate and many things were shown differently and far from reality. Even though most of it isn’t true, it’s still based on true story. The band, Mayhem, really did existed, and yes, they did horrible things like the movie shows, but it is really fascinating. Main character, Euronymous was a really bad person, but movie makes him look like the good guy and i didn’t like that. In my opinion, even though the movie isn’t accurate, the actors did a really good job impersonating all of the band members. I also loved the movie visually, the scenes were filmed perfectly. Not bad, but not my favourite ;)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/13/24

Full Review

Karina P

I loved this movie. It was sad, but extremely interesting. Rory Culkin is amazing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/07/23

Full Review

lena o

as a Mayhem fan, I liked this movie. People getting mad over it being "inaccurate" clearly skipped the beginning, it may have been better with different casting (especially for Varg) but it was a fun watch overall. I liked how, when I was sobbing in the end euronymous said "I created a whole new musical genre: True Norwegian Black Metal! And I created Mayhem. What the fuck have you done lately? Poser." i sure got called out, felt really in character for him

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/07/23

Full Review

S. C

The acting is questionable at times but the movie overall is still fun, disturbing and keeps you entertained with its characters, set pieces and plot. Various visual highlights make it worth watching. Music's pretty good too.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/21/23

Full Review

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Jonas Akerlund

Director

Rory Culkin

Euronymous

Emory Cohen

Varg

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Lords of Chaos: Trailer 1

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Lords of Chaos: Teaser Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In 1987 Oslo, 17-year-old Euronymous becomes fixated on creating "true Norwegian black metal" with his band Mayhem. He mounts shocking publicity stunts to put the band's name on the map, but the lines between show and reality begin to blur.

Director: Jonas Akerlund
Producer: Jack Arbuthnott, Jim Czarnecki, Kwesi Dickson, Danny Gabai, Erik Gordon, Kai-Lu Hsiung, Ko Mori, Fredrik Zander
Screenwriter: Jonas Akerlund, Dennis Magnusson
Distributor: Gunpowder & Sky
Production Co: Scott Free Productions, Insurgent Media, 4 1/2, Eleven Arts, Chimney, RSA FIlms
Rating: R (Grisly Images|Disturbing Behavior|Strong Sexuality|Nudity|Pervasive Language|Strong Brutal Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 8, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 22, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $253.2K
Runtime: 1h 52m

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