Nightwatch - Demons Are Forever - 2023 ‧ Horror/Mystery
IMDb RATING: 6.1/10
| Nightwatch - Demons Are Forever | |
|---|---|
| 2023 ‧ Horror/Mystery | |
| Release Date | December 14, 2023 (Denmark) |
| Director | Ole Bornedal |
| Language | Danish |
| Stars | Fanny Leander Bornedal, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Alex Høgh Andersen |
Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever
Overall, “Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever” is a disappointing sequel that struggles to capture the gloomy charm of the original. While it has a few effective scares, the movie is ultimately let down by its thinly drawn characters and lack of genuine emotional depth.
Fans of the first film hoping for a satisfying continuation of Martin’s story will likely leave this movie feeling underwhelmed. It’s a relic-quel that proves sometimes, it’s best to let some franchises rest in peace.
| Top Cast | Character |
|---|---|
| Fanny Bornedal | Emma |
| Casper Kjær Jensen | Bent |
| Amanda Collin | |
| Ulf Pilgaard | Wörmer |
| Alex Høgh Andersen | Frederik |
| Sonja Richter | Gunver |
| Kim Bodnia | Jens |
| Vibeke Hastrup | Lotte |
| Niels Anders Thorn | The Doctor |
| Sonny Lindberg | Sofus |
| Caspar Phillipson | Trondheim |
Movie Review: Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever
Do you remember the 1994 Danish thriller “Nightwatch”? It followed a young psychiatric ward attendant stalked by a killer. An English remake came out in 1997 with the same title and director, Ole Bornedal, starring Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, and Patricia Arquette. While the original Danish version was praised for its gloomy atmosphere, the 2023 sequel “Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever” fails to recapture that magic.
Movie Plot: A Copycat Killer Strikes
In the present day, a new murderer is terrorizing the Saint Hans Psychiatric Hospital. Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal), the daughter of Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) from the first movie, must stop the killings. Martin is still haunted by the events of “Nightwatch,” which left the deranged Dr. Wormer (Ulf Pilgaard) blind and imprisoned.
Struggling with the suicide of his partner Kalinka (Emma’s mother), Martin has become dependent on pills. To help her father, Emma takes the same night shift job he had before. But a copycat killer soon emerges, with signs pointing to the disturbed albino patient Bent (Casper Kjaer Jensen).
Movie Characters Lack Depth
While Emma embarks on this journey to find closure, the movie’s characters feel one-dimensional. Like her father Martin in the original, Emma behaves recklessly with her friends, though never with the same self-destructive intensity.
Her friends Maria (Nina Rask) and Sofus (Sonny Lindberg) drink too much and make inappropriate jokes, but never feel like credible human characters. The same goes for Emma’s boyfriend Frederik (Alex Hogh Andersen), who is more of a class clown than a complex person.
Movie Struggles with Emotional Depth
Director Ole Bornedal, who also wrote the sequel, seems disinterested in truly defining these young characters beyond self-absorption and snottiness. Their attempts to discuss consent and other modern concepts come across as shallow needling rather than genuine emotional exploration.
Emma herself is more of a plot device than a psychologically complex heroine. While the movie tells us she discovered her mother’s body as a child, she rarely exhibits that traumatic emotional depth in her interactions.
The same goes for the adult characters, who speak without much nuance. Their stories are defined by conventional reassurances that life goes on, rarely according to plan.
Movie’s Highlights Are Fleeting Scares
Where “Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever” succeeds is in its occasional shocking scares and needle-drop emotional moments. These scenes are most poignant when the aged actors from the original haunt their less-interesting younger counterparts.
Seeing these performers age is far more harrowing than the psychopath’s routine killing spree. But even when Bornedal grasps at bigger emotional beats, he struggles to provide satisfying closure or thoughtful follow-through.
Movie’s Ending Lacks Payoff
The corny, stiff finale suggests life is for living, not reminiscing. But this feel-good mawkishness only works if you’ve become invested in Emma and her loved ones, which the movie fails to achieve.
“Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever” never lets its characters truly unpack their hangups. So when some inevitably die violently to propel the plot forward, it’s hard for the audience to feel anything more than a fleeting shock.