Lars von Trier

Love him or hate him, Lars von Trier is a force of nature. Let's look at the uniqueness of The Kingdom.

In the third season, we hear his voice and [we see the red curtain](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/lars-von-trier-behind-the-curtain), but with a pair of shoes sticking out. Little Brother’s father (also played by Udo Kier) was a cruel doctor in the early days of the hospital responsible for the death of a little girl named Mary who now haunts the elevator. [Lars von Trier would appear](https://movieweb.com/director-cameo-own-movies/) in a tuxedo in front of a red velvet curtain, giving a sardonic little summary of the episodes events, concluding by telling us to always take “the good with the evil”, leaving us with a sign of the cross followed by the sign of the devil. But it is also one of the strangest, most compelling, utterly surprising shows you will ever have the privilege to watch. One of the third season’s most off-the-wall fantastic moments is the brief appearance of frequent von Trier collaborator Willem Dafoe as a demon. There’s Hook, a rogue junior surgeon who keeps the hospital stocked with black market goods, and his love Judith, who it seems is going to have a baby fathered by a ghost. There’s an unorthodox sleep lab; a doctor who purposefully transplants a cancerous liver into his own body; Haitian voodoo, a ghostly ambulance, and a Greek chorus that consists of two teens with Down Syndrome who work washing dishes in the hospital (in The Kingdom: Exodus, they are replaced by an actor with progeria and a robot). Drusse (played by Kirsten Rolffes) is really the heart of the first two seasons, scurrying around the halls in a pink robe, holding séances, getting her son Bulder to sneak her into restricted areas. It was Rolffes’ death (along with that of Ernst-Hugo Järegård as the Dane-hating Dr. [Lars von Trier](https://movieweb.com/person/lars-von-trier/) is a force of nature. Drusse, a not-actually-sick patient who schemes to get herself repeatedly admitted to the hospital because her psychic abilities tell her the building is haunted. He’s been banned from Cannes for a year after provocative comments about Hitler; he’s given us some of the most raw and vulnerable depictions of mental illness that have graced the screen.