Going Medieval: 25 films to watch while waiting for Game of Thrones season 8

4) Valhalla Rising (2009)

If you’re a fan of the grimdark, then the Danish-made Valhalla Rising, starring Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Rogue One), will probably serve you well. It’s a slow, hypnotic story of revenge and redemption set in the year 1096, and about as bloody as a movie can get. If you loved Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant, you’ll probably want to spend time with this flick.

Mikkelsen plays One Eye, a Norse warrior who escapes slavery to join a group of Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land. Things don’t go according to plan, and the expedition ends up in the New World, fighting for their lives in a weird, near-psychedelic landscape.

Valhalla Rising was a box office disappointment, but that didn’t stop a lot of critics from loving it. Mark Olsen of The L.A. Times called the film “a visually stunning, thematically rich and out-there tale of Vikings . . . Brutal and bracing, Valhalla Rising transforms into a cracked and crazy meditation on war and religion, nation building and the raw savagery that often lies just beneath society’s surface. And there’s blood, brains and guts too.” Rotten Tomatoes gives a mixed reviewer response, clocking in at 71%.

If you love bloodthirsty Viking movies amped up to eleven, you really have no excuse for never having watched Valhalla Rising. It’s an ambitious rumination on what a world of violence does to a human being. Methinks the Hound would love it.