The Big Picture

The Promised Land is a historical drama film starring Mads Mikkelsen as a Danish explorer. The film follows Ludvig Kahlen, an ambitious war hero, as he tries to tame an uninhabitable land and clashes with a nobleman. Based on a Danish bestseller, the film features notable talents and has already won awards at the European Film Awards.

Mad Mikkelsen’s historical drama film The Promised Land has set the US release date as it contends in the awards race this year. The feature premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is this year’s official Danish submission in the International Feature Film category for the 96th Academy Awards. Nikolaj Arcel helms the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Anders Thomas Jensen. A new trailer has been released to mark the occasion.

The new trailer sees Mikkelsen as Ludvig Kahlen, a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero, who sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land in the name of his king like his forefathers, who found lands and built settlements for honor. “God put man on earth to create civilization,” he says in the clip, laying down the central conflict of the feature as we see him battle against the barren land and local brigands. His ambitions soon conflict with Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power.

What’s ‘The Promised Land’ About?
Image via Magnolia Pictures

The Promised Land is based on the 2020 Danish bestseller Kaptajnen og Ann Barbara (The Captain and Ann Barbara) which follows Ludvig’s tale as he’s joined by a couple who have fled the clutches of the evil De Schinkel. As this group of misfits begins to build a small community, the confrontation between Kahlen and De Schinkel takes a violent and intense turn. Overall, the feature looks very promising from its plot to visual design — everything speaks volumes about the period depicted as well as its characters. With talents like Mikkelsen, Thomas Jensen, and Arcel this period drama is one to watch out for. The movie has already bagged several accolades at the 36th European Film Awards including European Actor (Mikkelsen), European Cinematography (Rasmus Videbaek), and European Costume Design (Kicki Ilander).

Along with Mikkelsen as Ludvig Kahlen, the movie also features Amanda Collin as Ann Barbara, Simon Bennebjerg as antagonist Frederik de Schinkel, Melina Hagberg as Anmai Mus, and Kristine Kujath Thorp as Edel Helene. Further rounding off the cast are Gustav Lindh as Anton Eklund, Morten Hee Andersen as Johannes Eriksen, Thomas W. Gabrielsson as Bondo, Magnus Krepper as Hector, Søren Malling as Paulli, Morten Burian as Lauenfeldt, Jacob Lohmann as Trappaud, Olaf Højgaard as Preisler, and Felix Kramer.

The Promised Land comes to US theatres on February 2nd, 2024. You can check out the new trailer below: