The Kingdom: Part 1 – The Unheavenly Host

Lights in the Dusk

First episode showcases Trier's taste for deadpan humour, particularly when resulting from potentially offensive/near-the-knuckle situations. The scene in which Helmer confronts the mother of a little girl left permanently disabled by his own misconduct falls somewhere between the first scene of The Idiots & the Mrs. H sequence from Nymphomaniac as one of the auteur's most profound & emotionally complex provocations.

Zachary George Najarian-Najafi

Why didn't Lars von Trier continue to make stuff like this? This is so much more enjoyable and creative then the pseudo intellectual garbage that Antichrist is. The Kingdom is really cool so far, and Mubi's comparison to Twin Peaks isn't far off the mark. Looking forward to diving right into the rest of this one.

Stefan Drees

Ghosts, weirdos, perverts, phobias and a lot of cynicism: I love this series since I watched it for the first time on TV some years ago.

This is Jake Kath

Solid start. I love the social structure of the doctors that the show automatically establishes. Everything drips of nihilism and spookiness! Maybe Lars actually enjoys genre movies... or other movies that aren't "his". Good stuff but I do think the best part of the episode (and probably the series (but I won't speak too soon)) is the opening credits.

Leco

I'd give up American Horror Story for this anytime! I know that on this pilot we don't get to see much, but the whole feel promised me more than any graphic feature on AHS. It's not beautiful, but it didn't appear to pursue that. It was like some weird tale that would fit inside Silent Hill canon... I hope the other episodes get even better.

yannisky

love the line: "When things are sad, children cry; when things are sorrowful, adults cry; but what are things when the building cries?" (spoken by the dishwasher duo)

Lorenzogranada

Fantastic, thought provocative. Carefully shot and very selective photography. The insights over modern progress and the institutionalized production of knowledge versus the unmeasured, superstitious and alternate views are beautifully orchestrated in a credible and tremendously representative environment. Every shot adds up into suspense and balances the spectator between certainty, disbelief and doubt

Richard Tines

Sodapop-gothic von Trier... This first episode is merely a primer for what's to come, so if you somehow find it to slow stick with it, and you'll be rewarded with Uber weirdness... Here the characters are set... Scenes are established... Rituals both spiritual and strangely official.... Doctors Behaving Badly.... And a pair of Down Syndrome suffering dishwashers who act as a sort of Greek chorus re: the goings-on...