{"id":4948,"date":"2026-07-26T17:11:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4948"},"modified":"2026-07-26T17:11:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T17:11:37","slug":"no-rest-for-the-wicked-review-a-supernatural-gay-love-story-in-a-19th-century-backwater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4948","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No Rest for the Wicked\u2019 Review: A Supernatural Gay Love Story in a 19th-Century Backwater"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe yearning separations of seafaring life have generated many a romantic ghost story, and while it largely takes place on terra firma, the Danish \u201cNo Rest for the Wicked\u201d provides an honorable addition to that roster. Kaspar Kalle\u2019s assured debut feature, drawn from an 1884 story by German author Karl Heinrich Ulrichs \u2014 a very early proponent for gay rights \u2014 walks a sometimes murky line between love story and horror. But the more sinister aspects ultimately turn out to be deliberate misdirection in this tale of two men who find each other in the remote Faroe Islands of the mid-19th century. In the end, any uneven qualities in Kaspar Kalle\u2019s handsomely atmospheric sophomore feature dissipate in a melancholy poignancy reminiscent of \u201cBrokeback Mountain\u201d and \u201cAll of Us Strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn 1862, Baldur (Egor Venned) is a taciturn young man living with widowed mother Asla (Sofia Nolsoe). Going out one day to fish alone, he\u2019s engulfed by mysterious clouds, then hears cries for help \u2014 though once he accidentally hits his head on a rock, it\u2019s Baldur who\u2019s rescued by Helge (Pilou Asbaek), a 40-ish sailor who\u2019d become lost on an unfamiliar side of the island. They make it back to Asla\u2019s cabin, where she\u2019s charmed by their gregarious guest. Baldur is more circumspect, irked at having temporarily lost his boat in the mishap, and unsettled by Helge\u2019s teasing manner, which could be interpreted as either adversarial or flirtatious. Nonetheless, the visitor fills his head with thoughts of adventure, and the many things Baldur has never seen \u2014 neither a tree or a mountain, for starters.<\/p>\n

\n\tLater, their tentative friendship turns into something more passionate \u2014 to the dismay of eavesdropping Asla, who realizes she is not the party Helge\u2019s charm was aimed at. When a whaling ship docks, both men are now ready to sign on as crew. But having already sacrificed a husband to the sea, Baldur\u2019s mom balks at losing her only child as well. Maternal guilt works its magic, leaving Helge to sail off alone. Ill winds, however, force his return all too soon \u2014 as one of many corpses washed ashore from a shipwreck. Aggrieved, Baldur makes a blood wish that his lover \u201ccome back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt this point, things take a supernatural leap that has already been portended by various visions and nightmares. Is Helge some \u201cforce of evil,\u201d as Asla suggests, even a vampire? When she grows alarmed enough to alert other villagers to her fears, the sailor\u2019s dug-up corpse proves disconcertingly warm and undecayed, and a contagion of sorts begins spreading to others.<\/p>\n

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\n\tUlrichs\u2019 brief original tale reads more like a plot outline than fully-realized fiction, almost as if it were intended for oral recitation. The screenplay by Rasmus Birch and Kalle makes useful changes on that template, replacing crudely literal-minded aspects with more suggestive ones, paring dialogue to make room for effective visual storytelling. They get an excellent assist in that department from cinematographer Jacob Moller, who makes the most of poetically stark locations. That imagery is complemented by persuasive period design elements, and an original score by Hettarher that encompasses some wordless choral passages.<\/p>\n

\n\tA successful model (and Faroes native) making his screen debut, Venned sports the kind of looks and physique that are almost too idealized for the setting. They further make him an odd partner for conspicuously older Asbaek, who\u2019s in ingratiating form. But the newcomer holds his own acting-wise with his much more experienced costar. Nolsoe provides strong support. In her role as well as elsewhere, Kalle downplays the explicit homophobia that might have rendered this a more simplistic allegory, making Asla less a figure of interfering jealousy than a woman who simply doesn\u2019t want to be abandoned yet again. Love finally triumphs in \u201cNo Rest for the Wicked,\u201d a denouement that both is haunting, and requires a literal haunting to arrive.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\u2018No Rest for the Wicked\u2019 Review: A Supernatural Gay Love Story in a 19th-Century Backwater<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n

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\t\tReviewed online, July 20, 2026. In Fantasia Festival. Running time: 103 MIN.<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n

    \n
  • \nProduction:<\/strong>
    \n(Denmark) An SF Studios production in association with Danish Film Institute, in coproduction with Faroese Outlier Projects, Truenorth. (World sales: Charades, Paris.) Producer: Lars Bredo Rahbek. Executive producer: Lars Bjorn Hansen. Co-producers: Jon Hammer, Kristinn Thordarson, Leifur B. Dagfinnsson.\t\t\t<\/li>\n
  • \nCrew:<\/strong>
    \nDirector: Kaspar Kalle. Screenplay, Rasmus Birch, Kalle, from the short story \u201cManor\u201d by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. Camera: Jacob Moller. Editors: Mads Michael Olsen, Mark Bukdahl. Music: Hettarher.\t\t\t<\/li>\n
  • \nWith:<\/strong>
    \nEgor Venned, Pilou Asbaek, Sofia Nolsoe, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Kjartan Hansen, Brimheim, Bui Egason Dam, Noomi Kunoy Heradottir, Klaus Sondergaard. (Danish, Faroese dialogue.) \t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Premiering at Fantasia, Kaspar Kalle\u2019s atmospheric drama ‘No Rest for the Wicked’ finds two men thrown together \u2014 then torn apart \u2014 by the sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3826,3946,3947],"class_list":["post-4948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-fantasia-festival","tag-kaspar-kalle","tag-no-rest-for-the-wicked"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018No Rest for the Wicked\u2019 Review: A Supernatural Gay Love Story in a 19th-Century Backwater - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4948\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018No Rest for the Wicked\u2019 Review: A Supernatural Gay Love Story in a 19th-Century Backwater - 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