Riders Of Justice
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''Riders of Justice'' () is a 2020 Danish
action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...
, written and directed by
Anders Thomas Jensen Anders Thomas Jensen (born 6 April 1972) is a Danish screenwriter and film director. His film ''Election Night (1998 film), Election Night'' won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Life and career Jensen was born in Frederi ...
. The film was released in Denmark on 19 November 2020, receiving positive reviews from critics.


Plot

Mathilde loses her mother in a train collision and her father, Markus, a soldier serving in Afghanistan, comes home to look after his young daughter. Mathilde and Markus find it difficult to come to terms with the tragedy, causing strain in their relationship, with Markus rejecting counselling. Markus is approached by a man named Otto (who was on the same train with Markus's wife) who informs him that the collision wasn't accidental, but rather a murder to eliminate a key witness about to give evidence against the leader of the "Riders of Justice" motorbike-criminal gang. With the help of Otto's
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...
friends, Lennart and Emmenthaler, the group identifies a suspicious man who left the train seconds before the accident as the brother of the Riders of Justice's leader. The group goes to the man's house, intending to interrogate him for information about the accident, but Markus loses control when the man threatens them with a gun and kills him out of anger. Lennart disposes of the evidence, encountering a bound young Ukrainian boy named Bodashka. The Riders interrogate Bodashka for information, leading to their identification of Emmenthaler. The Riders attempt a drive-by shooting on the group, but Markus is able to kill the attackers and rescue Bodashka. Mathilde sees Markus and the three hackers talking, but Lennart lies and explains that they are actually a therapy group attempting to help Markus with his trauma. The group then attack a Riders meeting, killing several of them. As the ensemble prepares another hit on the Riders of Justice, Bodashka explains that the suspicious man was not on the train; Lennart and Otto had convinced Emmenthaler to accept a less accurate facial recognition result, and the suspicious man was actually an Egyptian tourist, meaning that their crusade against the Riders of Justice was committed in error, and the evidence they relied on was a simple coincidence. Markus, learning this, breaks down in anger and frustration, finally lowering his stony facade and crying. The next day, the Riders follow clues in Mathilde's boyfriend's social media and attack the group at Markus' house. Several of the group are injured and, while Markus kills several, Mathilde is taken hostage, and Markus surrenders. However, Otto, Lennart, and Emmenthaler, using weapons training Markus gave them earlier, emerge and kill the Riders, saving Markus, Mathilde and her boyfriend. A few months later, at Christmas, the entire group join to celebrate and open presents, and Markus and Mathilde have reconciled.


Cast

*
Mads Mikkelsen Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. He rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the Pusher (film series), ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Detective Sergea ...
as Markus Hansen (
nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...
for
Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role The Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role () is a Danish Film Academy award presented at the annual Robert Award ceremony to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a Danish film. Honorees 1980s * 19 ...
2021)
*
Nikolaj Lie Kaas Nikolaj Lie Kaas (; born 22 May 1973) is a Danish actor whose career rose in the 1990s. Kaas graduated from the National Theater School in Denmark in 1998. He first appeared on screen in Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's film ''The Boys from St. Petri'' i ...
as Otto Hoffmann * Andrea Heick Gadeberg as Mathilde Hansen *
Lars Brygmann Lars Brygmann (born 17 February 1957) is a Danish actor. He graduated from acting school in 1987 and went on to perform in a number of theatres in Denmark. His television and film debut came in 1995. He is the brother of actors Martin Martin ma ...
as Lennart (
Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role The Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role () is one of the merit awards presented by the Danish Film Academy at the annual Robert Awards ceremony. The award has been handed out since 1984. Honorees 1980s * 1984: for ' * 1985: Ben ...
2021)
* Nicolas Bro as Emmenthaler *
Gustav Lindh Gustav Lindh (born 4 June 1995) is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his roles as Aron in '' Älska mig'' and Jörgen Olsson in ''Jordskott''. He is internationally best known for his role in '' Queen of Hearts''. In 2020, he plays a role in ...
as Bodashka *
Roland Møller Roland Møller (; born 28 May 1972) is a Danish actor. He won the Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for '' Land of Mine'' (2015), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ''Nordvest'' (2013). He has appeared in high-profile films li ...
as Kurt *
Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt (born 12 July 2001) is a Danish actor. Biography Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt was born in Skodsborg. He attended , but dropped out to pursue acting professionally. His older brother, , is also an actor. Filmography Film ...
as Sirius * Anne Birgitte Lind as Emma Hansen * Omar Shargawi as Palle Olesen / Aharon Nahas Shadid * Jacob Lohmann as Kenneth * Henrik Noël Olesen as Noah * Gustav Dyekjær Giese as Adrian


Reception


Box office

The movie opened to Danish cinemas on November 19, 2020, selling 150,486 tickets for the opening weekend and pre-premieres; beating out ''
Another Round ''Another Round'' () is a 2020 black comedy-drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg, co-written with Tobias Lindholm. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, and Lars Ranthe, the film follows four high school teachers who ...
'' for best selling opening weekend in Denmark that year.


Critical response

Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "A darkly humorous revenge thriller with satisfying depth and a dash of savory quirk, ''Riders of Justice'' makes another compelling case for Mads Mikkelsen as an all-purpose leading man." The film was met with a favorable critical response from the Danish press. ''
Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...
'' called ''Riders of Justice'' "Anders Thomas Jensen's best movie since '' Flickering Lights''", giving it 5 out of 6 hearts. '' B.T.'' remarked that the movie does not have as many memorable scenes as a number of Anders Thomas Jensen's previous movies, but has as significant an emotional impact as ''
Another Round ''Another Round'' () is a 2020 black comedy-drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg, co-written with Tobias Lindholm. Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, and Lars Ranthe, the film follows four high school teachers who ...
'', another film released that year with Mikkelsen in a leading role.


Remake

in late May 2024 it was reported that an English-language remake is in development, with Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz directing and writing the screenplay, while
Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (; born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian and American filmmaker and actor. He is the founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. His work has spanned numerous genres, and his films as a director have grossed a collective $3.5 billion worldwid ...
, Dan Levine, and Dan Cohen will serve as producers.


References


External links

* {{Anders Thomas Jensen 2020 action comedy films 2020 films Danish action comedy films Danish comedy-drama films Films directed by Anders Thomas Jensen Films with screenplays by Anders Thomas Jensen 2020s Danish-language films Zentropa films