No Rest for the Wicked (Fantastic Fest 2026)

LGBTQ+ themes have played a large part in genre films of recent years. Just this year queer relationships have been explored in Whistle and Leviticus, being delicately handled and naturally presented in ways that influenced the supernatural events taking place without exploitation. No Rest For The Wicked can be considered of coming from the same ilk, and indeed it maturely handles its subject matter with a deft touch and really solid performances from its main cast. It’s the integration of supernatural elements into these emotional arcs where its less successful, as it doesn’t do nearly enough to make the two feel seamless or to enhance either aspect.

Centering on an isolated island community in the 19th century, No Rest For The Wicked follows two young men who soon begin to harbour feelings for one another that they must keep secret from those around them. Tales of closeted love are a well-worn trope by this point, but director Kasper Kalle attempts to inject some gothic horror touches throughout the narrative. This is a natural result of the gloomy 19th century Faroe Islands’ setting, and the film even lifts certain elements from Karl Heinrich Ulrichs’s 1884 novel Manor, although I’m not sure just how much is borrowed. Frustratingly, the film takes too long getting to either of these. The first twenty minutes are great at establishing the scenery and the cinematography gives it an alluring quality, but apart from the two central male characters meeting, what the first act contributes to the plot is fairly scant. You think you have some idea of where it’s going, but since it goes in another direction entirely, you wonder why the film spent so long setting an atmosphere it was never going to follow through with.

As to be expected with a LGBTQ+ story in a period setting, there’s a religious undercurrent here as the island folk serve and believe in a deity. Therefore, the build of sexual tension between these two young men is accompanied by that feeling of existential dread of what will happen if their relationship is discovered. It’s clear that they even somewhat believe in it too, and it’s the subtlety with which this is done that becomes one of No Rest For The Wicked’s biggest strengths. It’s when the subtlety overrides everything else when issues start to form.

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A slow-burn is always an interesting gamble, and the ones that work best are when the tension builds and then explodes in cathartic ways. No Rest For The Wicked doesn’t really do that: it stays simmering away, not committing fully to any of its elements, which is a crying shame as there’s some really interesting ideas here.

The main thing the film commits to is its tone, and that really works. If it’s a moody gothic tone you’re after, and you’re okay with a film light on plot, then this might do the job. The actors fully commit to the bit: there’s an intentional lack of warmth and human connection to some exchanges, and that juxtaposes well with Baldur (Egor Venned) & Helge’s (Pilou Asbæk) chemistry. Especially when the film makes its stylistic pivots later on, even though it’s nowhere near pronounced enough, the tone works brilliantly. It’s not a film without style or class, again, the cinematography (by Jacob Møller) is really strong throughout and that was enough of a hook for me initially – but as that feeling began to fade, No Rest For The Wicked never really replaced it with anything.

Director Kasper Kelle knows what he’s doing behind the camera, there’s no denying that. But unfortunately, for me, No Rest For The Wicked spent too long umming and erring about its interesting elements before doing anything with them, and in the end we can only hope for a film to deliver the goods in a concise and satisfying way.

ALEX’S ARCHIVE – NO REST FOR THE WICKED