Something exciting is happening this coming Friday: Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Mads Mikkelsen as sibllings with weird family history will present you with a new level of absurd and black humour that is funny, disturbing and criminally good.

However, let me tell you about ScandiGang that had appeared on our horizon during the first Nordicana in June 2013 in London. The event was the result of Jon Sadler’s team, and his own expertise, to bring the best of the Nordic Noir creative talent for the British fans who kept wanting more. Nordicana 2 (February 2014) and 3 (June 2015) followed, here’s an older post: Nordic Noir & Beyond. Saga’s car was brought to central London. We all wanted to wear Sarah Lund’s sweater, to inhale hygge and to read anything from the Nordic / Scandinavian authors, as well as from the Scandi Brits whose books had the similar themes, mood and equally interesting haunting stories and main characters.

The ScandiGang watched together but separately all Scandinavian shows on BBC Four on Saturday evenings while commenting on everything that happened on our screens, Twitter was a super friendly and innocent place back then. We met at various locations for different events and shared news about all exciting films, books and TV series. We ate at ScandiKitchen, ordered Scandinavian food online, bought novels and non-fiction books about the Nordic Noir phenomenon. We are still in touch but life takes over and there are not many moments to meet up.

Additionally, we played Scandi bingo which was always fun and sometimes a touch challenging as we kept discovering new names and faces, and marvelled at how well the Nordic countries collaborated in the creative spheres. You might have also played that game. Let’s take Danish The Killing / Forbrydelsen, Danish Borgen and Danish Swedish The Bridge / Bron/Broen for example. How many familiar faces have we seen since these three iconic gripping series took over our screens? How many connections between actors, projects, books and events have followed after that? Who are the actors that had worked across the genres and countries, always leaving a huge impression, sometimes big questions and for ever the passion to keep searching for more their high-quality creative work. The Danish industry has been particularly rich in delivering unforgettable experiences for all the ScandiGang members.  

The idea of Scandi Bingo isn’t gone, especially as new films and TV shows keep coming, and we are still hungry for them. Therefore, I would like you to join me, and us, in this game ahead of the UK premiere of The Last Viking, the latest film by Anders Thomas Jensen, produced by Sisse Graum and Sidsel Hybschmann. The main stars are Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, with strong support by Sofie Gråbøl, Søren Malling, Bodil Jorgensen, Nicolas Bro and Lars Brygmann.  

The Last Viking | Official Website | 26 June 2026

The premise of The Last Viking is fairly simple. After serving fifteen years in prison, bank robber Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is released for good behaviour, and determined to recover the stolen money his brother Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen) had buried years earlier. There’s just one problem: Manfred, caught in an identity crisis and convinced he is John Lennon, can no longer remember where it is hidden. The brothers set off on an increasingly chaotic hunt for the missing fortune, digging up old family secrets on the way. It gets dark and complicated as they must face uncomfortable and painful memories while dealing with strange present. You might have already seen Riders of Justice or Men and Chickens so you know that Mads and Nikolaj are totally brilliant as film partners, knowing each other so well, and playing off each other’s strengths. Ridiculous humour and chaotic life situations prevail.

The Last Viking got great reviews: ‘Fast, furious and funny’ (Screen Daily), ‘A bloody and utterly delightful black comedy’ (The Hollywood Reporter) and ‘Brutal, hilarious, and sick in the best way possible’ (Cut to the Take). It opens in the cinemas across UK on Friday 26th June and now you have a chance to win a couple of tickets to watch it in any of the Picture House cinemas in the country. Just share my post and tell me why you also belong to the ScandiGang. Because you do, yes?

All photos (c) Rolf Konow