Movie · 2005 · Drama, Comedy, Crime · 1h 35m · R · DA
Curator score: 5.5/10 (92.4K ratings)
When it rains, it pours
Overview
A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.5/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.79/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
Metacritic: 51
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Anders Thomas Jensen
Production
M&M Productions
Cast
Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen, Paprika Steen, Ole Thestrup, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Nicolas Bro, Ali Kazim, Gyrd Løfquist, Lars Ranthe, Peter Reichhardt, Tomas Villum Jensen, Peter Lambert, Emil Kevin Olsen, Solvej Christensen, Rasmus Rise Michaelsen, Jacob-Ole Remming
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, darkly funny Danish fable that turns a neo-Nazi/community-service premise into a surprisingly humane battle between denial, faith, and self-destruction. It’s bleak, absurd, and often very funny, with strong performances and a tone that keeps shifting just enough to stay unpredictable.
Best for
viewers who like black comedies with moral bite
fans of absurdist European cinema
people drawn to character-driven redemption stories
audiences who enjoy bleak humor mixed with sincerity
Skip if
you want straightforward realism
you dislike offensive or provocative subject matter
you prefer jokes that stay light and nonconfrontational
you need tidy plotting or emotionally safe storytelling
Overview
Adam’s Apples is the kind of film that sounds like a bad joke until it starts revealing how carefully it has been built. Anders Thomas Jensen uses a wildly unstable setup—a neo-Nazi sent to a church for community service—to stage a fable about faith, resilience, and the stories people tell themselves to survive pain. The comedy is deadpan and often savage, but it never feels random; every escalation is tied to character, belief, or denial.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the balance between grotesque behavior and genuine tenderness. Mads Mikkelsen and Ulrich Thomsen anchor the film with performances that keep the absurdity from floating away into sketch territory. The priest’s optimism is not treated as a punchline so much as a dangerous form of hope, while the film quietly asks whether kindness is delusion or a kind of strength.
Bottom line
It’s not an easy recommendation for everyone, because the material is intentionally abrasive and the tone can be morally slippery. But for viewers who like their comedies black, their dramas strange, and their redemption stories a little poisoned, it’s a memorable one. It has the feel of a modern parable that keeps refusing to behave like one.
Top Letterboxd reviews
eely (3★) · 411 likes
mads mikkelsen’s character gets bullied by a neo nazi in his own car and his response is to turn up his car radio which only plays the song “how deep is your love” by the bee gees and just start vibing
bena 🌙 (3★) · 378 likes
how badly i wanted to punch mads mikkelsen in the face only for his nasal bone to be in its correct position again
𝚮𝖆𝖗𝖑𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖉𝖊 🙏🏻 (4★) · 182 likes
Mads: *plays a priest* *looks like an absolute dork riding a bike in shorts* *gets beaten to a bloody pulp* *the broken nose shape is inexplicable*My thirst: *doesn't even flinch*Hell: *commences the construction of new and exciting Circle specifically for me*
When I finally get there it will be like my very own Midsommar, let me tell you that much.
The Curse claimed a cat this time so it's not as bad as it could be.
Harvey 🎉 🎆 🎉 (3.5★) · 127 likes
As far as I’m aware this film is about a neo-Nazi at a church, so this is probably gunna be a dialogue heavy film but I’m 90% sure Mads is either the Nazi or some kind of priest so it’s gunna be a pretty enjoyable ride, + I’ve not watched an Anders film yet that I haven’t found to be hilarious.
Yeah this is by far Anders’ most profound script and it’s not even close, every line of ever scene… more
vivuori · 123 likes
cinematic brilliance is how ivan’s character arc is marked by his transition from wearing shorts to trousers and then back to shorts
1999 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 43m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (309.8K ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus, Philo
A sharp character study of obsession, self-justification, and corrosive ambition.
Topics
black comedy, Danish cinema, absurdist, faith, redemption arc, moral parable, bleak humor, crime drama, offbeat ensemble, 2000s