The Promised Land

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The Promised Land

R

2024

2h 7m

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

130 Reviews

95%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

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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Stephen Romei

The Australian

Jun 27, 2024

3.5/5

There are times in the impressive Danish historical drama The Promised Land where Dr Lecter peeks from the eyes of the main character...

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Feb 24, 2024

4/5

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.

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Sergio Burstein

Los Angeles Times

Feb 20, 2024

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]

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

Sep 10, 2025

This is clearly a high budget, professional production, the kind of thing Hollywood used to more regularly churn out for grown mainstream audiences who liked a little bit of class with their popcorn.

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Maxance Vincent

Film Speak

Jul 14, 2025

A

Arcel gives The Promised Land enough time to develop its characters inside a richly-developed and striking world, filled with evocative images from cinematographer Rasmus Videbæk, that immediately recall Sergio Leone’s tableaux of the West.

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Leonardo Garcia Tsao

La Jornada

Feb 10, 2025

The story is conventional, but at no time does it give off the stench of the old-fashioned. [Full review in Spanish]

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Gray S

Feb 7, 2024

Fantastic, evocative, timely story, beautifully told.

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Janis

Feb 3, 2024

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

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Ashequl I

@Tofa13 4 days ago

A bastard, who just wanted to delete that part of his life. That’s why he lost 25 years in the army and then tried to build an estate to escape his bastard identity and get his noble name. But what did it cost? It cost him everything—the life, the happiness, the loved ones, everything. The Promised Land has to be one of the saddest movies of all time. A man who just wanted a noble name did everything by sacrificing his loved ones, but when he finally got it, he was just alone, and the sadness was real. The movie ended on a positive note, but the whole film was sad and showed a harsh reality. The screenplay was great. Mads Mikkelsen just played the greatest role of his life. This was a great experience.

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Norman D

@ndudzik28 Sep 5, 2026

This movie has everything.

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Juris O

@Juris100 Aug 30, 2026

The film was a pleasant surprise.

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Lisa W

@Lisa_Rocket Aug 2, 2026

Not always an easy watch as I found some scenes disturbing. It was gripping and captivating and one week on I still think of it.

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Nikolaj Arcel

Director

Mads Mikkelsen

Ludvig Kahlen

Amanda Collin

Ann Barbara

Gustav Lindh

Anton Eklund

Melina Hagberg

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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
Producer: Louise Vesth
Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen, Nikolaj Arcel
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Zentropa Entertainment
Rating: R (Brief Nudity|Bloody Violence|Language|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
Runtime: 2h 7m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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