Riders of Justice (Danish: Retfærdighedens Ryttere) is a 2020 Danish action comedy film[5][6] directed and written by Anders Thomas Jensen.[7][8] The film was released in Denmark on 19 November 2020, receiving positive reviews from critics.
Plot
Mathilde loses her mother in a train collision and her father, Markus, a soldier serving in Afghanistan, comes home to look after his young daughter. Mathilde and Markus find it difficult to come to terms with the tragedy, causing strain in their relationship, with Markus rejecting counselling. Markus is approached by a man named Otto (who was on the same train with Markus's wife) who informs him that the collision wasn't accidental, but rather a murder to eliminate a key witness about to give evidence against the leader of the "Riders of Justice" motorbike-criminal gang.
With the help of Otto's hacker friends, Lennart and Emmenthaler, the group identifies a suspicious man who left the train seconds before the accident as the brother of the Riders of Justice's leader. The group goes to the man's house, intending to interrogate him for information about the accident, but Markus loses control when the man threatens them with a gun and kills him out of anger. Lennart disposes of the evidence, encountering a bound young Ukrainian boy named Bodashka. The Riders interrogate Bodashka for information, leading to their identification of Emmenthaler.
The Riders attempt a drive-by shooting on the group, but Markus is able to kill the attackers and rescue Bodashka. Mathilde sees Markus and the three hackers talking, but Lennart lies and explains that they are actually a therapy group attempting to help Markus with his trauma. The group then attack a Riders meeting, killing several of them.
As the ensemble prepares another hit on the Riders of Justice, Bodashka explains that the suspicious man was not on the train; Lennart and Otto had convinced Emmenthaler to accept a less accurate facial recognition result, and the suspicious man was actually an Egyptian tourist, meaning that their crusade against the Riders of Justice was committed in error, and the evidence they relied on was a simple coincidence. Markus, learning this, breaks down in anger and frustration, finally lowering his stony facade and crying.
The next day, the Riders follow clues in Mathilde's boyfriend's social media and attack the group at Markus' house. Several of the group are injured and, while Markus kills several, Mathilde is taken hostage, and Markus surrenders. However, Otto, Lennart, and Emmenthaler, using weapons training Markus gave them earlier, emerge and kill the Riders, saving Markus, Mathilde and her boyfriend.
A few months later, at Christmas, the entire group join to celebrate and open presents, and Markus and Mathilde have reconciled.
The movie opened to Danish cinemas on November 19, 2020, selling 150,486 tickets for the opening weekend and pre-premieres; beating out Another Round for best selling opening weekend in Denmark that year.[9]
Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 96% based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A darkly humorous revenge thriller with satisfying depth and a dash of savory quirk, Riders of Justice makes another compelling case for Mads Mikkelsen as an all-purpose leading man."[10]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]
The film was met with a favorable critical response from the Danish press.[12]Politiken called Riders of Justice "Anders Thomas Jensen's best movie since Flickering Lights", giving it 5 out of 6 hearts.[13]
B.T. remarked that the movie does not have as many memorable scenes as a number of Anders Thomas Jensen's previous movies, but has as significant an emotional impact as Another Round,[14] another film released that year with Mikkelsen in a leading role.
Remake
in late May 2024 it was reported that an English-language remake is in development, with Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz directing and writing the screenplay, while Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, and Dan Cohen will serve as producers.[15]
