WFG RATING: A+

An Invictus Film production in association with Last Exit Productions. Written and directed by David Noel Bourke. Produced by Rasmus Doolengs. Cinematography by Rasmus Leo Phoenix. Edited by Rika Yasui Hammen. 

Stars Mikkel Vadsholt, Herman Knop, Joachim Knop, Anton Dalgard Gulyeruz, Silke Biranell, Christian Friss, Siir Tilif, Marie-Louise Coninck, and Ebbe Engmark. 

A bullied teen meets an unlikely friend in this Danish fantasy from David Noel Bourke.

Vincent is a mysterious man who drives a local ice cream truck in a small town. Viggo is a teenager who finds himself under constant bullying as well as dealing with his family. When news of a missing man is announced, Viggo finds his normal routine deterred while Vincent is questioned about the disappearance. When the two meet up, they form a friendship and for the first time in his life, he feels like he can rely on someone to talk to. 

However, Vincent has a bit of a dark secret. He has been suffering from porphyria, a sensitivity to light. And it goes beyond that. Vincent has a bit of a bloodlust, swallowing tubes of the stuff each day. Meanwhile, the missing man has been found dead but now someone has dug up his coffin, prompting the cops to go into action. Could Vincent be the one responsible and will his vampirism affect his friendship with Viggo?

This film from Danish filmmaker David Noel Bourke comes across like a tamer version of the Swedish hit Let the Right One In, with the story concentrating on two outcasts who forge a friendship that grows into a brotherhood of sorts as they rely on each other when they need to vent out. When they are separate from each other, we see exactly why they feel distant to those around them and yet when they are together, the titular character acts like the big brother Viggo desperately needs. 

Mikkel Vadsholt and Herman Knop drive the film as Vincent and Viggo. Vincent may imbue creepy vibes in a way. After all, he’s a balding middle-aged man who drives an ice cream truck and collects comic books. In many horror films, those are clear signs that he may be a certain type. However, it is not the case. Vincent is seen swallowing blood from tubes, tends to get warm, and is sensitive to light. However, he does not like to be called the term that fits all of these symptoms. He tells Viggo this during one of their conversations when talking about their favorite movies. 

As for Viggo, we see him dealing with so much. First, he is the only son of the family. His father  Sebastian, played by Herman Knop’s real-life father Joachim, is a police officer who tends to overreact to things. He has a crush on one of his classmates, who is dating someone else. He also deals with bullies. He feels like no one will support him. When he meets Vincent, he eventually sees him as a “big brother” figure. What’s interesting is that when it looks like things will go left and go full on horror, Bourke wisely does not go this route, but reveals something that brings more of a sense of realism and all this with a man gone missing not once, but twice. 

Vincent does something very different and somewhat realistic with a friendship forged between a man with some conditions and a bullied teen in a big brother way. Mikkel Vadsholt and Herman Knop are excellent in their films and overall, a completely unexpected third act will change the way one sees this subgenre.