- EIFF 2019: ANIARA is a Deeply Haunting Sci-Fi Experience [Review]
- Darkstar Pictures Announces Free Online Film Festival!
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- SKYLINES Is Coming! [Poster Premiere]
- Who Hunts Who in HUNTER HUNTER? [Trailer]
- MONSTER HUNTER Coming for Christmas [Trailer]
- Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival Returns with In-Person Event [Line Up]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- BERLINALE 2021: TIDES Comes After Hell [Trailer]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- A Comet Destoys Earth in GREENLAND Trailer
- Interactive WAR OF THE WORLDS Adaptation Out Now!
- 8K Trailer for Train to Busan Sequel PENINSULA Drops Hard!
- Making a Bomb Shelter in a Funhouse is a Bad Idea in IMPACT EVENT [Trailer]
- Retro Slave: FOX's Post-Apocalyptic Sitcom WOOPS!
- TRAIN TO BUSAN Sequel PENINSULA Gets a Teaser Trailer
- New on Blu-ray and DVD for March 11, 2020
- The Apocalypse Kills Women in ONLY [Trailer]
- Trailer for TheWalking Dead: World Beyond Spin-Off Series
- SATOR is a Welcome Addition to the Folk Horror Canon [Review]
- Women in Horror Month: NEAR DARK
- SOUTHLAND TALES: The Cannes Cut [Review]
- A Woman's Mind Unravels in BIGHT HILL ROAD [Review]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- 2067 Director Talks Inspiration, Environment & Time Travel [Interview]
- THE STRANGERS Director Returns with THE DARK AND THE WICKED [Trailer]
- Michael Shannon is Crime Boss in ECHO BOOMERS [Trailer]
- Hair Extensions Get Horrific in BAD HAIR [Trailer]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- VIFF 2020: Sobriety, Reintegration & Telekinesis Come Together in THE CURSE OF WILLOW SONG [Interview]
- VIFF 2020: Revenge Thriller Re-Examined in VIOLATION [Interview]
- VIFF2020: Director Loretta Todd on the Making of Her Debut Feature MONKEY BEACH [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- NO ESCAPE Director Talks Influencers, Escape Rooms & Writing [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- The Funny Side of Alien Invasions: You have to SAVE YOURSELVES! [Trailer]
- Kodi Smit-McPhee Goes to the Future to Save the Present in 2067 [Trailer]
- First Look at Denis Villeneuve's DUNE [Trailer]
- Fantasia 2020: LAPSIS, THE COLUMNIST, MINOR PREMISE, FEELS GOOD MAN & HAIL TO THE DEADITES [Capsule Reviews]
- BUNRAKU Writer/Director Returns with LX 2048 [Trailer]
- BLOOD QUANTUM Writer/Director Talks Inspiration, Zombies & Representation [Interview]
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX
Latest news








Year: 2010
Director: ValdÃs Óskarsdóttir
Writers: ValdÃs Óskarsdóttir
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Marina Antunes
Rating: 5 out of 10
With all of the information kicking around on Iceland, the country remains a mystery to me as, apparently, does the comedy – but we’ll get to that in a second.
For his second turn behind the director’s chair, editor turned director ValdÃs Óskarsdóttir returns home to tell the comedic story King’s Road. Junior returns home after three years abroad in hopes that his father can help him sort out some financial problems which won’t go away, hence Junior’s arrival with his “friend†Rupert in tow.
It’s immediately apparent that King’s Road isn’t exactly a “normal†town. If you can even call it a town. It's a trailer park in rural Iceland. Perhaps it’s the thin air or the fact that the town seems removed from civilization but it’s populated by a quirky group of individuals, each stranger than the last. There’s the crossing guard/ticket writer whose brother is always around but only able to cross the road when a car is coming. Then there’s Junior’s father who himself is in hiding after a brush with the law and his girlfriend who is bored and ignored. Junior’s grandmother walks around with a dead seal (we later come to see the importance of the seal) and often spends her afternoons in a hotboxed car owned by the town punk rockers. Adding to the strange brew of characters are the stranger bits of comedic gold which pepper the story. And yet, something about King’s Road just doesn’t click.
Though some of the jokes are hysterical and had me holding my side as I tried to stay upright in my seat, others fell a bit flat despite some brilliant performances. Daniel Brühl plays the role of straight faced Rupert who seems both unimpressed and annoyed by the eccentricities of the people and events that unfold around him but he’s determined to get his money at any cost and his own actions are cause for more than a a handful of amusing moments.
So what’s at fault? It may well be this reviewer’s sense of comedy but it could also be the fact that a majority of the good jokes are beaten to within an inch of their lives. Though I found some of the situational comedy hilarious, most of it turns to tediousness pretty quickly. Take the crossing guard. Though I enjoyed how his story unfolded and the new twist added by a third individual, the gag itself got old after the second time it’s used and sadly, that’s the case with quite a few of the gags. The ones that really work are the few that come and go with barely a mention (the “Why don’t you just buy a printer?†bit right at the film’s opening still makes me snicker).
In the end, King’s Road suffers from a case of over stretching much of its laughs but a few are so effective it’s a shame they’re buried in a film few people will likely see. I’d love to see a collection of greatest King’s Road moments but as it stands, the film is a too much of a grind to recommend wholeheartedly. Maybe Óskarsdóttir’s next comedy will be better. I’d be game for giving him another shot.
You might also like








Anonymous (10 years ago) Reply
FYI: Director is female. Icelanders don't have family names, instead their last name is the name of their father plus their own gender. Oskarsdottir is Oscar's daughter. If / when she has children they'll have a different surname based on the name of their father and their own gender.

Anonymous (9 years ago) Reply
exactly, thank you. Marina, you're a massive ignorant, you didn't even bother researching the director properly. Your review blows.

Czmych (7 years ago) Reply
Did Marina make her homework or she didn't it doesn't really matter as the one most important fact she has got right: in spite of fabulous actors and a handful of jokes this movie sucks.

agentorange (7 years ago) Reply
Ha!