The Promised Landis a brutal , unforgiving drama about the danger of ambitiousness and the greed that seems to drive so many who are already in power . I discover it oddly comforting . As strange as that may sound , the movie is a rare beast in the world of modern-day moviemaking . It ’s a modestly budgeted , well - manufacture historical epic poem made with such vindicated charge and craft that one feels allow to model back and lease it take you wherever it wants . Once upon a time , period dramas like it used to be far more common than they are now . In 2024 , they seem reserved for music director likeMartin Scorsese(Silence ) and Ridley Scott ( Napoleon ) — professional well - versed in bringing history ’s suffer world to animation .
For that reason , The Promised Landfeels like a bit of a miracle . The film , Danish author - director Nikolaj Arcel ’s follow - up to his underwhelming 2017Stephen King adaptation , The Dark Tower , is n’t the most narratively advanced drama you ’ll see this year . The story it secernate is unspecific in both its scope and emotions , but the while it throw is oftentimes mesmerizing . With one of the mankind ’s greatest histrion as its Pb , The Promised Landalso grounds itself in a taciturn and yet quietly , attractively expressive execution .
free-base on a book of account by Danish writer Ida Jessen , the photographic film stars Mads Mikkelsen as Captain Ludvig Kahlen , a pathetic officer of the German ground forces who , in the wake of his retirement , seeks permit to attempt building a farm in the fields of Denmark ’s heroic heathland . If he come after , he ’ll not only be the first man to do so but also be granted the kind of place and noble title of respect he ’s spend his entire life trying to earn . His limited pecuniary resource make it hard for him to recruit enough worker for the occupation , though , and he quickly finds himself in a rivalry with Frederik de Schinkel ( Simon Bennebjerg ) , a nearby landowner who has no interest in cultivating the heathland but is concerned with the impact that Kahlen ’s effort could have on his wealthiness .
Their rivalry serves as the dramatic heart ofThe Promised Land , and the increasingly tearing , lilliputian nature of it inevitably calls to mind the feud between Daniel Day - Lewis ’ merciless crude oil baron and Paul Dano ’s egotistic sermoniser in Paul Thomas Anderson’sThere Will Be Blood . Arcel ’s film , which is based on a screenplay he co - write with Anders Thomas Jensen , never reaches the same thematic and barbaric heights as Anderson ’s 2007 chef-d’oeuvre , but de Schinkel and Kahlen ’s battle over ascendency of the Danish heath does show to be rich stuff forThe Promised Landto explore its theme of class , avaritia , and reckless ambition .
LikeThere Will Be Blood , Arcel ’s historical dramatic event make the most out of its barren environment , which seems to stretch on forever in every direction . The film director and his cameraman , Rasmus Videbæk , fill the motion picture ’s first turn with shots of Mikkelsen dig alone into the airfoil of the heath ’s inhospitable playing field . The framing and deepness of these ikon both emphasize the seeming futility of Kahlen ’s travail to bow nature to his will and invite you to get lose inThe Promised Land‘s untamed 18th - century landscapes . Meanwhile , the Barry Lyndon - esque use of rude light sources throughout de Schinkel ’s ornate state manor house just further bestow to the film ’s immersive qualities .
As he crowd ahead with his plans , Mikkelsen ’s former army policeman grows gradually closer to his few supporters : Ann Barbara ( Amanda Collin ) , an escaped handmaid of de Schinkel who harmonize to help Kahlen in exchange for safe harbor ; Anton Eklund ( Gustav Lindh ) , a well - intend country non-Christian priest ; and Anmai Mus ( Melina Hagberg ) , a puckish little girl who comes to view Ludvig as a father name . An unlikely phratry forms between the four misfit , but it ’s a mention to Arcel and Jensen ’s screenplay and Mikkelsen ’s withdrawn performance thatThe Promised Landnever veers into overly sentimental territorial dominion .
The film holds onto its coarse border all the fashion through its runtime — delivering a third act that is admirable in its aroused and dramatic muss . Behind the camera , Arcel resists the urge to spell out the movie ’s climactic musical rhythm too explicitly . Instead , He choose to lounge repeatedly on Mikkelsen ’s face — the actor ’s impassive expressions make agency for his eyes to subtly communicate his role ’s increase exhaustion and desperation . Although Arcel delivers a bloody conclusion to the constant scourge of violence that permeates throughoutThe Promised Land , too , the film producer successfully finds the right Libra the Scales between alarm brutality and gruesome purgation .
The flick at last retain on a few minutes longer than it needs to , and its conclusion does n’t down with as much emotional weightiness as is mean , partly due to the underdeveloped nature of several of its supporting characters — namely , Collin ’s Ann Barbara . gratefully , The Promised Landnever makes the mistake of ham it up any of its last moments . It travel out on a quiet note that mull over its protagonist ’s overly mannered demeanor and elegantly rejects the unwavering resolution he holds onto for much of its narration .
It ’s a final wrinkle in a film that is about as straight and unshowy as they come and which is content to persist at an unostentatious key for most of its story . Those who look into outThe Promised Landwill , in other parole , likely rule themselves immersed full in a historic heroic poem that have everything it anticipate , as well as a little more .
The Promised Landis now playing in theatre .
