Dead Duck Film Club

"The Last Viking" And A Mads Mikkelsen Comedy That Loses Its Nerve

The Last Viking (2025) is the new film from Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas. Jensen's sixth film with both actors broke the Danish box office on opening weekend with 127,000 tickets sold, the biggest Danish live-action opening since 2018. UK release: June 2026. Seb is joined by Bruna, George and Mark for a full spoiler discussion. They cover the bank-robber-and-brother setup, the brother who thinks he is John W. Lennon, the Beatles-patients band, and why the funniest first act of the year falls apart in a second half that saves its worst violence for its two female characters. They break down the Viking parable that frames the film, the director's interview about humour and "some groups," whether the film reads as a dog whistle on trans rights, and the question of casting a neurotypical actor in a neurodivergent role. Warm-up watches: André Is an Idiot, Hokum, Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Kick-Ass, Tuner, and Julia Donaldson's Gruffalo. Films recommended at the end: Another Round, Pusher, After the Hunt. Spoilers throughout. Subscribe, leave a review, and share with a fellow film lover. Just by being here, you're part of the club. 🦆

"When Evil Lurks" And Argentina's Answer to The Conjuring

When Evil Lurks (2023) is an Argentinian supernatural horror written and directed by Demian Rugna (Terrified). It premiered at TIFF's Midnight Madness, won Best Feature at Sitges (the first Latin American film to do so in 56 years), and holds a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 6.9 on IMDB. Seb and George talk through Rugna's rejection of religious horror. No crucifixes, no holy water, no prayers. They cover the "cleaner" system and government neglect, the COVID parallels in characters who know the rules but refuse to follow them, and whether the second half's exposition undercuts the mystery. The dog scene, the axe scene, the autistic child's possession through vocal tics (calling Azrael), and the film's subtitle translation all come up. George gives it high marks but wanted a stronger ending. Seb lands on three to three and a half stars. Films mentioned: Terrified, Bring Her Back, The Wailing, The Conjuring, Funny Games, Possum, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Devil Inside. Spoilers throughout. Subscribe, leave a review, and share with a fellow film lover. Just by being here, you're part of the club. 🦆

"Ghost in the Shell" And Why The Matrix Owes It Everything

Ghost in the Shell (1995), directed by Mamoru Oshii and based on Masamune Shirow's manga, was released simultaneously in Japan, the UK, and the US, unusual for anime at the time.A quiet theatrical run in the West, a cult hit on VHS, and then a direct influence on The Matrix: the Wachowskis showed it to Warner Bros executives when pitching their film. Seb and George cover the 82-minute runtime and what Oshii stripped from themanga to get there. They discuss Major's identity crisis, the Puppet Master claiming asylum as a living being, and how both connect to the current AGI race. Covered: the garbage men subplot and manufactured memories, Oshii fighting for the city wandering sequences, and the link to Arthur Koestler's 1967 text The Ghost in the Machine. George argues the merge ending is a metaphor for evolution: old generation dies, new generation inherits. The 2017 remake with Scarlett Johansson gets a full run-through: what gets lost when you gut the philosophy for action. Other films mentioned: Akira, The Matrix, Blade Runner (1982), Videodrome. Warm-up: George on Trust Me, False Prophet (FLDS church documentary, four episodes); Seb on The AI Doc or How I Became an Apocaloptimist 2026. Spoilers throughout. Subscribe, leave a review, and share with a fellow film lover. Just by being here, you are part of the club.

"Funny Games" And the Violence You Asked For

Funny Games (1997), directed by Michael Haneke, is an Austrian home invasion film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Comparisons made to Speak No Evil (original Danish) and The Coffee Table. Films mentioned: Benny's Video, The Piano Teacher, Creep, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Hostel, Kill Bill. Warm-up: Ken Russell's The Devils (1971), Suspiria (2018 remake, Dakota Johnson), Shin Godzilla, and Kristen Stewart's Chronology of Water.

"Audition" And The Loneliness Epidemic Made Flesh

Audition (1999), directed by Takashi Miike, is a Japanese horror film based on Ryu Murakami's 1997 novel of the same name. Released the same year as Ring, it holds 81% from critics and 80% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The film caused walkouts and audience illness at its original festival screenings in Dublin and the US. Eihi Shiina plays Asami, a role she and Miike partly developed through improvisation during production, including the film's most iconic scene. Seb, Bruna, and George discuss the film's two-phase structure, the audition scene as a lens on male fantasy vs the reality of women, why a film from 1999 still maps onto the male loneliness epidemic and trad wife discourse, Asami's white costuming as a death symbol in Japanese culture, the ambiguity of the dream and flashback sequences. Films mentioned include Memories of Murder, Body Double, The Coffee Table, Ichi the Killer, The Handmaiden, Kill Bill, Possession, Censor, and Nora. Spoilers throughout.