The gate to the Kingdom is opening again, again.
Dour Dane Lars von Trier is revisiting probably the funniest project of his otherwise gloomy career with a brand-new, third and final season of “The Kingdom,” titled “The Kingdom Exodus.” The series centered around the loony staff and patients of the neurosurgical ward of a Copenhagen hospital returns on November 27 courtesy of streaming platform and theatrical distributor MUBI. Watch the official trailer below.
Following a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and a showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, episodes will drop exclusively on the streaming platform on a weekly basis. And that’s after MUBI premieres the 1990s original Seasons 1 and 2, newly restored. The full rollout slate is below.
“The Kingdom Exodus” builds upon and finishes Lars von Trier’s cult series classic centered on weird phenomena at the Kingdom hospital: corpse mutilation, a Greek chorus of dishwashers, ghosts in the halls, a doctor rapidly giving birth to a full-sized Udo Kier at the end of Series 1 among them.
MUBI describes it as a ghost story about the hospital built on top of the old bleaching ponds in Copenhagen, where evil has taken root, and medical science faces a daily struggle with itself. In this final installment, sleepwalker Karen will seek answers to the unresolved questions of the series in order to save the hospital from doom. Sound asleep one night, Karen wanders into the darkness and inexplicably ends up in front of the hospital, setting off a chain of bizarre events and bringing faces new and old to the hospital.
This is the first project we’ve seen from von Trier since 2018’s “The House That Jack Built” brought him back to Cannes after seven years of persona non grata status — and since he announced his Parkinson’s diagnosis earlier this year.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms — and given treatment so he can complete ‘Riget Exodus,’” a statement from the Palme d’Or winner’s reps said at the time. “The illness means that Lars will only take part in interviews to a limited extent until the premiere later in the year.”
Here’s the full “Kingdom” rollout schedule.
“The Kingdom” I – November 13
Episode 1: “Unheavenly Host”
Episode 2: “Thy Kingdom Come”
Episode 3: “A Foreign Body”
Episode 4: “The Living Dead”
“The Kingdom” II – November 20
Episode 5: “Mors in Tabula”
Episode 6: “Birds of Passage”
Episode 7: “Gargantua”
Episode 8: “Pandæmonium”
“The Kingdom Exodus”
Episode 9: “Halmar” – November 27
Episode 10: “The Congress Dances” – December 4
Episode 11: “Big Brother” – December 11
Episode 12: “Barbarossa” – December 18
Episode 13: “Exodus” – December 25
