Critics reviews

[Arcel] has crafted a kind of Danish The Last of the Mohicans that’s full of passion and political conviction. It should stand the test of time almost as well as its rugged hero.

Arcel doesn’t shy away from the harshness of the time period, in both people and environment, which gives his film an edge that keeps its story engaging... Those willing to accept The Promised Land for what it is will likely have a good time, as it’s a serviceable piece of entertainment elevated by a strong leading performance and a few deranged tricks up its sleeve.

[The Promised Land] is impressively broad in scope, rich in period detail, and vicious in its deconstruction of how wicked men will hold onto power at any cost. With another rich performance from the always-great Mads Mikkelsen, this kind of movie should work for anyone who misses the period epic drama.

The Promised Land transforms from a stately and lyrical tale of rural survival to something more primal and intense; think Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven crossed with Michael Caton-Jones’s Rob Roy

“The Promised Land” hews closely to period conventions and at times plays like a parable. Its style is dignified and stolid, but the film is also overlong and rather repetitive, conveying its ideas effectively through story beats but then stating them twice more in case viewers missed them the first time.

[The film] is a handsome, bold two-hour tribute to the power of Mads, both the indominable character he plays and the presence he brings to the screen. “The Promised Land” needs him and he comes through with his ability to give power to the quiet moments and rescue the bombastic ones.

[A] lavishly upholstered historical romp, [The Promised Land] may pose nobly at points, but gradually reveals a heart of pure boys’-own hokum... [It] is finally nothing so much as a Danish Western, built on black-and-white moral binaries and a yee-haw sense of intrepid adventure.

[The Promised Land] shows once again that period pieces can be vigorous, powerful and emotionally stirring, this one enriched by themes of class, racism, sexual abuse, labor exploitation and chosen families. It’s a handsome production that displays all the virtues of assured old-fashioned storytelling without a trace of stodge.

[The Promised Land] shows once again that period pieces can be vigorous, powerful and emotionally stirring, this one enriched by themes of class, racism, sexual abuse, labor exploitation and chosen families. It’s a handsome production that displays all the virtues of assured old-fashioned storytelling without a trace of stodge.

An invigoratingly savage Nordic western, The Promised Land is earthy, enjoyable stuff: an expansive, sweeping epic with hope in its heart and dirt under its nails.

A handsome historical drama featuring plenty of gorgeous gowns, powdered wigs, and bored aristocrats, the film is, however, an unusually earthy proposition where nature, in its most unmanicured and unwieldy form, plays a major role.

Arcel’s approach seems to be aping Paul Verhoeven if he had ever decided to smear caca over a Jan Troell remake. That’s not to say there aren’t emotionally palpable moments, thanks mostly to the subtleties of Mikkelsen, who seems to supply a gravitas the narrative scrimps on, though not for lack of trying.