The Scandinavian film landscape is gearing up for an ambitious, politically charged thriller as Leonardo Rojas Lundgren—widely recognised for his breakout role in the hit Swedish comedy series Solsidan—makes a major genre shift in the new film from acclaimed writer/director Marius Pinnås (Just Twenty, Intruders, Henrik Jonsson’s Peculiar Last Days, Friendly People)
STOCKHOLM / OSLO Known from the popular comedy series Solsidan, Leonardo Rojas Lindgren crosses genre boundaries as he is confirmed to star in the upcoming Swedish thriller Vargland. The title translates as A Land of Wolves.
The film is set in the near future where NATO has dissolved and a fierce civil war plagues the region. A far-right republican group has already brought the governments to their knees, and works systematically to crush the Scandinavian monarchies and force Norway, Sweden, and Denmark into a unified union.
After the royal house in Oslo collapses during an invasion, the Swedish King and Queen flees the country immediately for safe location, leaving 21-year-old Crown Prince William alone with the Secret Service. While William later clears his head with a run around the royal property, the news breaks out all over Europe that a bomb has gone of on a bunch of train sets in the subways of Copenhagen, in the middle of rush hour killing thousands of innocents. The Prince is thrown into the back of a car by the men always around him, presumably in order to get out of the country immediately, like the protocol says he needs to. But as William is secured in the sealed backseat, looking at his home becoming further and further away, he turns his head towards the front shield and quickly realises that he’s not in the Secret Service’s car after all.
With a head spinning with ideas on where the car is heading, what he might be in for and who’s driving behind the tinted glass, he slowly realise from a Smart Watch still on his wrist, that castles and royal properties all over Europe are already under siege or being stormed by equal-looking hostiles like the ones in Oslo – and now most likely Copenhagen – with one thing in common: They take out everyone except the throne heirs. Now that the 21-year-old Prince is the highest ranking monarch in Scandinavia as the only king in regent, ordered by the Constitution to hold supreme command over the country's armed forces. Forced into a violent realisation, he begins to realise that this has something to do with why he is still left intact: He now has the power to order the largest group of allied forces – to kill any head of state – just by giving a simple order. The story raises the questions like what we all can expect from the future? What we could have done to prevent all violence in the world today – and weather or not it’s too late to prevent a WWIII.
Also: How much is a human life actually worth? And are all lives worth the same? Should someone be spared over others if – and when – the first bomb goes off close enough that we finally start to care?
A Dystopian Nordic Nightmare
Set against a chilling near-future backdrop, Vargland imagines a fractured Europe following the collapse of NATO. As civil war ravages the region, an extremist republican faction embarks on a calculated campaign to dismantle the Scandinavian monarchies and merge Norway, Sweden, and Denmark into a single totalitarian state, like it was hundreds of years ago.
Channeling the historical memory of Scandinavia's resistance during World War II, Crown Prince William gets abducted and wakes up in a subterranean bunker. Tortured for information and connected to the outside world only via live video feeds with fellow young European royals and children of world leaders, William must suddenly navigate high-stakes diplomacy that includes both vile torture of innocents and taking out world leaders by convincing his military and allies outside NATO that it’s all for the world’s good – while he’s in reality tries to protect his peers and the nation of Sweden with his own family. As he gets tortured to the extreme, to kill and to provide answers about his own family’s whereabouts, he gets weaker by the second, and soon comes to realise that he most likely will not get out of it alive. Beaten and physically and mentally tortured by the highly violent right-wing group, with plans to bring down every single monarchy in the world – William must go against all his moral principles to save – not just his family and Scandinavia, but needs to figure out how far he can go – in order to save Europe.
‘’I knew immediately that Leonardo could do this’’, the experienced director says, adding he’s well aware it’s not necessary a risk other directors would take – based on all of Lundgren’s years portraying a young ‘happy-go-lucky’ guy Scandinavians automatically recognise as his character from the hit comedy show from Felix Herngren. ’’But then we’ll surprise them. You have to take risks in this industry, because it’s on its last legs when it comes to cinematic experiences—but also new talent. I’ve realised through acting coaching, that there’s a few left and rising in the new generations—but Leonardo is definitely one of the biggest talents out there, smart and intelligent, and I’m excited for people to see a complete opposite side of him. I’m very proud I get to write dark and emotional monologues and dialogues for him—and to direct his theatrical debut.’’
Production, Team and Distribution
Written and directed by Marius Pinnås, the film features a widely international set of talents, an all-star Scandinavian ensemble, as well as director-regulars. At just 31 years old, Vargland marks the young director’s 11th feature film. Pinnås, who holds the record as Europes youngest director of a feature film with theatrical release of all times, with the 2011 action-comedy Blackmail for Dummies, is currently making waves with his American arthouse film Gathering the End Pieces which is being hailed as one of the most provocative productions of the year – and the soon-arriving limited series Missed Calls which Pinnås developed for television and partly directs. He also has a Danish horror in the back seat this year, and are going directly from Vargland to the American romantic comedy So Here’s the Thing, starring Matt Linton (Say Less, The Accountant 2) among other surprises.
Featuring a bunch of acclaimed actors in the cast lead by Lundgren, Linton also makes an appearance in Vargland as an American Congress Member.
The film blends intense personal drama with a contemporary political backdrop. ‘’I think many jaws will drop in the theaters’’, says Lise Margrethe Grøndahl, one of the Executive Producers in Northscope Entertainment. ‘’It’s frighteningly realistic, violent and touches delicate moral questions most of us don’t dare to ask, all though we deep inside know that the world is at risk.’’ Principal photography takes place in Stockholm and Oslo, with additional locations in Los Angeles, Faroe Islands, and across the U.K.
The film is heading to Scandinavian cinemas and other select theaters, before hitting global streaming platforms. The project is co-financed by New Nordic Screen, Creative Scandinavia, and the newly established private Northern Film Fund. It’s produced by Northscope Entertainment and Pinnås Company, in co-production with Northscope Z, Take6 Films and Alvy Singer Productions.
Victoria Marie Adler, Thomas Duffield and Marius Pinnås himself serves as producers.
Vargland is slated to arrive right after New Year’s 2027.