Mads Mikkelsen is equally at home playing good and bad characters; however there seems to be a geographical divide, with bad ones being in Hollywood films and TV (Bond Villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, Empire baddie in Rogue One and Hannibal Lecter in the TV series Hannibal), and good ones in Europe – specifically his home nation of Denmark.

This latest fits into this divide, with this Danish film having play a brother – albeit a mentally dysfunctional one.

Who says crime doesn’t pay – well it does if you don’t get caught. Unfortunately for Anker (Nokolaj Lie Kaas), he did get caught, and is just about to be released after a 15 year stretch in prison. However, he did manage to hide his stolen cash, and gave his brother Manfried (Mikkelsen) the key to its whereabouts, with strict instructions where to pick it up and, more importantly, where to hide it.

It probably seemed like a solid plan at the time, but he didn’t foresee his brother being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder while in prison. This is immediately noticeable when he gets out, when his brother adamantly demands that he now be known as John W. Lennon – as in the Beatle John Lennon.

This makes getting him to tell him where his cash is buried even trickier, made even more so by his old partner-in-crime Flemming (Nicolas Bro) who is insistent that he gets all the money now, as he’s spent his share.

This leads Anker and brother ‘John’ on a troubling trip down memory lane, that leads them back to their old family home in the country.

This is a film about bonds, so it’s fitting that Mikkelsen reunites with his trusted director Ander Thomas Jensen for the sixth time, and a follow-up to their excellent 2020 Riders of Justice.

It’s a bittersweet examination of brotherly love, with the brothers undergoing a stressful childhood upbringing together. This leads to the film’s main theme of trauma, that not only Manfried suffers from, but every character in it, to varying degrees.

Jensen’s script is a thing of fragile beauty, multi-layered with an unusual depth that goes to some dark places, only to be alleviated by some cracking dark humour; for instance, you will never see anyone else exit a scene quite like Mikkelsen does – on a number of occasions.

It’s an incredible balance of remarkable storytelling, with some truly memorable characters, from the complexity of Paul-George (played superbly by Kardo Razzazi), to the simplicity of Ringo (Peter Düring), who rounded up as the other members of the unconventional tribute band.

Another pair of Margrethe and Werner, saw another reunion of Sofie Gråbøl and Søren Malling from the hit Danish TV show The Killing as a dysfunctional couple roped into the madness of Anker and Manfried’s world.

And it’s credit to Mikkelsen that he allows his superb thunder to be stolen from time to time, by other members of the cast, as this rich, broken tapestry unfolds.

With Hollywood struggling on the originality front, with relentless sequel releases, Jensen’s film is the proverbial cinematic breath of fresh Danish air, mastering unique storytelling as he does, whilst shining a light on mental health issues.

It’s a quirky adventure, bringing out the very best good and bad in Mikkelsen.