A Danish first-time director has turned a little-known 1884 story by one of history's earliest gay-rights advocates into a supernatural drama set on the wind-bitten Faroe Islands. Variety published its review of No Rest for the Wicked on 26 July 2026, calling it a film that walks a line between love story and horror (Variety).

Kaspar Kalle, born in 1984 and a 2015 graduate of the National Film School of Denmark, makes his feature debut with the project (Danish Film Institute). He co-wrote the screenplay with Rasmus Birch. The source material comes from Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, a 19th-century German writer recognised as an early proponent of gay rights. Ulrichs's original tale reads more like a plot outline than fully realised fiction, according to the Variety review, which left room for Kalle and Birch to build out the drama.

The story is set in 1862. Egor Venned, a model and Faroe Islands native making his screen debut, plays Baldur. Sofia Nolsoe plays Asla, Baldur's widowed mother. Pilou Asbaek — known internationally for Borgen and Game of Thrones — plays Helge, a sailor in his forties. The plot turns on a blood wish that brings a dead lover back, threading a supernatural element through what the review describes as a melancholy tale of longing.

The craft credits are European and locally rooted. Jacob Moller handled cinematography; the composer Hettarher wrote the original score, which includes wordless choral passages. Rasmus Sandø Hansen and Lars Bredo Rahbek produced, with Mads Michael Olsen and Mark Bukdahl also credited (Danish Film Institute; Fantasia Festival). The Danish Film Institute's database associates the film with the year 2025.

Festival and release plans are taking shape. No Rest for the Wicked was selected for the Fantasia International Film Festival, the genre-focused event held annually in Montreal (Fantasia Festival). SF Studios, which handles international press for the title, has indicated a theatrical release in Denmark during November 2026 (SF Studios).

Variety's review draws a comparison to two earlier films known for their aching portrayals of queer desire: Brokeback Mountain (2005) and All of Us Strangers (2023). That places Kalle's debut in a particular lineage — intimate, grief-haunted stories where love and loss are inseparable — while the blood-wish premise keeps one foot in genre territory.

For a first feature, the credentials stack up. A National Film School graduate adapting a foundational gay-rights author, shooting on the Faroes with a cast mixing a first-time island performer and an internationally recognised actor, and landing a Fantasia slot before a domestic release. No box-office figures or distribution deals beyond Denmark have been announced.