The Bastard, with Mads Mikkelsen, is a western, but Nordic and violent. The actor, who usually plays villains for Hollywood, shines in this historical drama.
The film, a historical drama, reunites him with the Danish director Nikolaj Arcel. The script, which adapts Ida Jessen's 2020 historical novel, The Captain and Ann Barbara, is incisive, and just as it pits the men against each other, it also charts the relationship between Ludvig and Ann.