The Kingdom (1994)

Original title

Riget

Directed by

Lars von Trier, Morten Arnfred

Genre

mystery film, horror film, drama television series, comedy television series, mystery television series, horror television series

Country

France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany

Rated

18

Rating

7.8 of 10 from 255 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This Danish miniseries takes place in a hospital in Copenhagen where the staff and patients encounter strange and supernatural events. It follows an eccentric group of characters, including dishwashers who comment on the odd occurrences. The show uses a muted sepia color scheme and mixes absurd situations with horror and dark humor.

absurdistwryunsettlingslow-burnsupernaturaldarkly comiceccentricsepia-tonedmysterious

What happens

The Kingdom (Danish: Riget) is a Danish absurdist supernatural horror miniseries trilogy created by Lars von Trier and Tómas Gislason. Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet (lit. 'The National Hospital', nicknamed "Riget", lit. 'the realm' or 'the kingdom'), each episode of the show follows the hospital's eccentric staff and patients as they encounter bizarre and sometimes supernatural phenomena. The series is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down syndrome, who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital. The main theme's song was written by von Trier himself. The first series of four episodes premiered from DR in November to December 1994, and was followed by a second series, Riget II, which aired in November 1997. A belated third and final series of five episodes, directed by von Trier and written by von Trier with Niels Vørsel, entitled Exodus, began filming in 2021 and was screened out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and at the Serial Killer festival in September 2022, and premiered on Nordic streaming platform Viaplay with the first two episodes on 9 October. The series premiered in select regions between 27 November and 25 December on streaming platform MUBI. Von Trier has credited David Lynch's 1990 television series Twin Peaks and the 1965 French miniseries Belphegor as inspirations for the series. The Kingdom itself inspired an American series, Kingdom Hospital, developed by novelist Stephen King; the American version aired on ABC between March and July 2004, and was cancelled after a single season. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• The Kingdom (1994)
• The Kingdom II, Exodus (1997)
• The Shadow of Freedom (1994)
• The Killing (2007)
• Secrets (2004)
• The Wide Net (2000)
• Kingdom Hospital (2004)
• The Nurse (2023)