20 Best Movies Of 2024 (So Far)

Adding another impressive notch to his glowing CV, Mads Mikkelsen stars in Nikolaj Arcel's historical drama The Promised Land as a poor army officer with big dreams of turning some newly acquired land in Denmark into a prosperous settlement. 

What follows is a twisting tale of deceit, betrayal, torture, romance and greed, as Mikkelsen is set upon by a vicious aristocrat who wants to see him fail. It's really several films in one - a sweeping drama, a historical epic, a morally complex character study, a love story with no hope in sight. 

But despite its packed emotions and the gruelling insight it offers regarding its political turmoil, The Promised Land is always focused on the man at its centre, a complex, enigmatic soul who Mikkelsen portrays with a steely gaze and a wounded heart.

Stunningly shot and finely tuned, Arcel's drama is a real return to form for the director of 2017's abysmal The Dark Tower, the likes of which - cliché be damned - we simply don't see anymore.