Anders Thomas Jensen doesn’t make films; he builds meticulously crafted, tonally volatile explosive devices disguised as character studies. Den sidste viking is no exception, representing both a triumphant return to form and a deepening of the writer/director’s singular obsessions. It is a film that seamlessly stitches together gut-punch drama with absurdist comedy, resulting in a work that is as emotionally resonant as it is unpredictably hilarious.

The Last Viking is stupidly sentimental and surprisingly sweet. It’s a film about a bunch of individuals who are completely and totally dysfunctional on their own but somewhat functional together.