The Promised Land

R

Released Feb 2

2 hr. 7 min.

History

Drama

TRAILER

for The Promised Land: Trailer 1

List

96%

113 Reviews

Tomatometer

94%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 18th century Denmark, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) -- a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero -- sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land on which seemingly nothing can grow. He seeks to start farming crops, build a colony in the name of the King, and gain a noble title for himself. This beautiful but forbidding area also happens to be under the rule of the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power. Struggling against the elements and local brigands, Kahlen is joined by a couple who have fled the clutches of the rapacious De Schinkel. As this group of misfits begins to build a small community in this inhospitable place, De Schinkel swears vengeance, and the confrontation between him and Kahlen promises to be as violent and intense as these two men.

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Critics Consensus

Mads Mikkelson leads us through the savage terrain of The Promised Land with a glimmer of hope in this epic Nordic tale with Western bones.

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Gray S

Fantastic, evocative, timely story, beautifully told.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

Full Review

Janis

Great story and actors. Very sad story but realistic about life in the 1700s . Written well.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

Full Review

Camilo T

Top Actors, beautiful story. This is a very good movie about the harsh of life in the 18th century.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/28/24

Full Review

Alejandro E

Con cierto sabor a cine western, una historia de justicia y venganza que está bien sostenida a lo largo de sus dos horas, con ayuda de su reparto y la recreación de época.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/10/24

Full Review

Eye C

This was hard to watch, and It's a great movie, but the injustices get into my nerves, and honestly I didn't left out of the movie theater in a very great mood, so great movie but is a downer.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/06/24

Full Review

Ryan F

The story, music, suspense, eeriness, the acting is just sublime throughout and you just can't take your eyes away. You won't want to miss out on such a well structured thing of beauty. 2hrs+ just flies by.. It just shows that things you prize most at the beginning may not be the answer to happiness and this film teaches you that. These films are putting Hollywood to shame yet again and isn't one to miss unlike the mass amount of recycled rubbish that is out there.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

Full Review

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Nikolaj Arcel

Director

Mads Mikkelsen

Ludvig Kahlen

Amanda Collin

Ann Barbara

Gustav Lindh

Anton Eklund

Melina Hagberg

Actor

Kristine Kujath Thorp

Edel Helene

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The Promised Land: Trailer 1

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

The anti-immigrant and Romani sentiment expressed by Danes in 1755, although tinged with superstition, sounds eerily familiar. Mostly, though, The Promised Land, in common with its hero, ploughs a furrow as a rough-hewn costumed adventure.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 24, 2024

Full Review

Sergio Burstein

Los Angeles Times

The only problem here is that the whole ends up feeling a bit didactic and leaning towards the narrative style of Hollywood simplicity, yet does not take away from the power of a film that definitely deserves to be seen. [Full review in Spanish]

Feb 20, 2024

Full Review

Tom Shone

Times (UK)

The Promised Land builds like a glacier or rock formation — and it delivers.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 20, 2024

Full Review

Barbara Goslawski

Exclaim!

In its interrogation of civilization versus barbarism, the film provides penetrating insight on the nature of true savagery.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 4, 2024

Full Review

Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

In “The Promised Land,” the countercultural twist is that when the gunslinger protects others’ family, he betrays and endangers himself.

Mar 24, 2024

Full Review

Pablo O. Scholz

Clarín

The script, which adapts Ida Jessen's 2020 historical novel, is incisive... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/4

Mar 20, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

In 18th century Denmark, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) -- a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero -- sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land on which seemingly nothing can grow. He seeks to start farming crops, build a colony in the name of the King, and gain a noble title for himself. This beautiful but forbidding area also happens to be under the rule of the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power. Struggling against the elements and local brigands, Kahlen is joined by a couple who have fled the clutches of the rapacious De Schinkel. As this group of misfits begins to build a small community in this inhospitable place, De Schinkel swears vengeance, and the confrontation between him and Kahlen promises to be as violent and intense as these two men.

Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen, Nikolaj Arcel
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Zentropa Entertainment
Rating: R (Language|Brief Nudity|Bloody Violence|Some Sexuality)
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: Danish
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 23, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $256.3K
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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