KVIFF 2026: Trine Dyrholm & Simon Bennebjerg in 'The Guest' Drama

Yet another story of a fractured family trying to reconcile years later. Yet another story of a family unable to actually reconcile despite being in the middle of a beautiful moment moving forard. But that's life for you, right? That's the truth about most families these days. While it is getting a bit cliche to see, it is still a brave act to make a film about a family and share all the ugly, rotten, uncomfortable sides of it. Sometimes laying it all bare and addressing all this trouble directly is the only way to really figure out how to move forward. But this doesn't always work, does it? The Guest (aka Gæsten) is a Danish family drama made by Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel as his first feature film after a few other TV series recently. The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it won the Best Director Award for filmmaker Mads Mengel and also the Special Jury Prize. I was also at the KVIFF world premiere, honored to sit & watch this film at its initial unveiling. Despite being a well-made, nicely-shot Danish film, it's a bit depressing overall. // Continue Reading ›