by Alex Billington
July 19, 2026
Yet another story of a fractured family trying to reconcile years later. Yet another story of a family unable to actually reconcile despite being in the middle of a beautiful moment moving forard. But that’s life for you, right? That’s the truth about most families these days. While it is getting a bit cliche to see, it is still a brave act to make a film about a family and share all the ugly, rotten, uncomfortable sides of it. Sometimes laying it all bare and addressing all this trouble directly is the only way to really figure out how to move forward. But this doesn’t always work, does it? The Guest (aka Gæsten) is a Danish family drama made by Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel as his first feature film after a few other TV series recently. The film had its world premiere at the 2026 Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it won the Best Director Award for filmmaker Mads Mengel and also the Special Jury Prize. I was also at the KVIFF world premiere, honored to sit & watch this film at its initial unveiling. Despite being a well-made, nicely-shot Danish film, it’s a bit depressing overall.
Don’t confuse this The Guest with cult favorite 2014 action thriller The Guest starring Dan Stevens & Maika Monroe. This is an entirely different thriller. 2026’s The Guest is directed by Mads Mengel, and co-written by Mads Mengel & Christian Bengtson, set during a baby shower / naming ceremony at a beautiful seaside resort in Denmark. New parents Karl & Emilie (starring Simon Bennebjerg and Mette Klakstein) have gathered their friends & family for this joyful event to announce the baby’s name, baptize it in the sea, and celebrate together. But there is one guest missing at the start – Karl’s mother Vibeke, co-starring the iconic Danish actress Trine Dyrholm. When she shows up things get a bit wacky, as Karl (and his sister played by Josephine Park) don’t like her and don’t want her around. She needs to be on meds & under constant surveillance, which has created a rift within the family. Dyrholm, of course, totally rocks this film once she appears. There’s never a single moment where she isn’t fiercely convincing in every scene she’s in. The film bounces back & forth between being quite tender & heartfelt, and bonkers & intense once the yelling starts.
The film’s ultimate goal seems to be an honest look at the challenges of reconciliation & forgiveness, with all members of both families trying to understand who they are – their differences, quirks, problems, yet still try to get along. However, this doesn’t seem to really work well as the story plays out. The film itself seems to drift from this core and just focus on how totally nuts certain family members can be and how hard it is to get rid of any deep-rooted resentment. Yelling at each other during a special event won’t solve much. Which makes it all a bit sad to watch, even though the humor lightens things up. There’s also a few nice glimmers of hope & happiness where everyone is calm, but that’s short-lived. All of it is a natural, authentic portrayal of how a simple, lovely moment of celebration can turn chaotic quickly when the wrong people show up and drag other issues in. While I appreciate what Mengel is going for with The Guest, and why it is a distinctly challenging story to tell, it doesn’t all come together the way it should and it didn’t leave me feeling better by the end. Nonetheless, Trine Dyrholm is exquisite and totally magnetic in her role, and this film is entirely worth watching as a vibrant character study to examine her complexities and nuances as a troubled mother.
Alex’s KVIFF 2026 Rating: 7 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
