Mads Mikkelsen is out for vengeance against the Riders of Justice

Riders of Justice is the upcoming violent and darkly comedic drama from Danish writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen. It reunites him with his regular star Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal), who’s appeared in all four of Jensen’s previous features, the last being 2015’s Men & Chicken.

Mikkelsen plays a military officer who’s forced to return home when his wife is among those tragically killed in a train accident. While caring for his daughter (Andrea Heick Gadeberg) who survived the incident and struggling to process his own grief, he’s approached by two strangers who claim that the tragedy was no accident, but instead a deliberate act of sabotage which they suspect was perpetrated by a biker gang known as the Riders of Justice. And so begins a dark and violent journey to uncover the truth behind the accident and the identities of those responsible.

The official plot synopsis is as follows:

Riders of Justice follows recently-deployed Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), who is forced to return home to care for his teenage daughter after his wife is killed in a tragic train accident. But when a survivor of the wrecked train surfaces claiming foul play, Markus begins to suspect his wife was murdered and embarks on a mission to find those responsible.

Let’s take a look:

Given how serious, violent, and gritty the revenge-tale part of this movie looks, the comedic aspects seem quite out of place. However if the reviews coming out of the film festivals where the movie has been screened are to be believed, they work really well together, and that makes me curious to see how that works. It also doesn’t hurt that this looks well-directed or that the performances look really strong.

What do you think?

Riders of Justice is due for a limited release in US theatres on 14 May, and will be available via on-demand on 21 May. It also stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lars Brygmann, Nicolas Bro, Gustav Lindh, and Roland Møller.

Last Updated: April 19, 2021