The Danish Woman

The Danish Woman
Danska Konan
GenreDrama, Black comedy
Created by
Written by
Starring
ComposerMatti Kallio
Country of originIceland, France
Original languagesIcelandic, Danish, English
No. of episodes6
Production
Running time47 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network

The Danish Woman (Icelandic: Danska Konan) is an Icelandic-French television miniseries created by Benedikt Erlingsson. Co-written by Benedikt and Ólafur Egill Egilsson.[1] The six-episode series premiered at the Series Mania festival in March 2025 and received critical acclaim from international media including Variety, Le Monde, and Le Figaro.[1][2]

It follows Ditte Jensen, a retired Danish intelligence officer who relocates to Reykjavík, where her instincts as an elite operative and her strong sense of justice lead her to intervene in the lives of her neighbors, blurring the line between heroism and intrusion.

Plot

The series follows Ditte Jensen, a retired Danish intelligence officer who moves to an apartment building in Reykjavík, intending to live anonymously and tend to her garden. However, her background as an elite operative and her strong sense of justice lead her to become involved in the lives of her neighbors. She uses her skills to intervene in various situations and conflicts within the building community, believing that the ends justify the means in her pursuit of helping others, whether they welcome her assistance or not.[3] Her neighbours include an alcoholic, a domestic violence victim and refugees facing deportation. However, her interventions backfire in the final episode: she came to the assistance of a neighbour who was in debt to drug dealer, but finds he (46 years old) had impregnated a teenage girl, and then the antagonised drug dealer (who was also a former spy) plants drugs in her bathroom, resulting in a visit from armed police.

Cast

  • Trine Dyrholm as Ditte Jensen
  • Hilmar Guðjónsson as Þórir
  • Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir as Gulla
  • Natalía Kristín Karlsdóttir as Maríanna
  • Baldur Björn Arnarsson as Kári
  • Hrafn Alexis Elíasson Blöndal as Finnur
  • Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir as Soffía
  • Hjálmar Hjálmarsson as Kristinn
  • Edda Guðnadóttir as Björk
  • Björn Thors as Magnús
  • Kolbrún Helga Fridriksdóttir as Maja
  • Halla Vilhjálmsdóttir as Ástríður
  • Atli Rafn Sigurðsson as Skarphéðinn
  • Raffaella Brizuela Sigurdardóttir as Salima
  • Juan Camilo Román Estrada as Juan Camillo
  • Jens Albinus as Jens Jørgensen
  • Thorvaldur Strømberg as Ingmar Strömberg
  • Besir Zeciri as Kasper
  • Siff Vintersol as Mille
  • Andreas Jebro as Ole
  • Sebastian Alstrup as Joakim
  • Marina Bouras as Danish ambassador
  • Benedikt Erlingsson as Balding thug
  • Ólafur Egill Egilsson as Leather Óli

Production

The series was created by Benedikt Erlingsson. Co-written by Benedikt and Ólafur Egill Egilsson. Benedikt is an acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker whose previous works include Of Horses and Men (2013), which won the Kutxa-New Directors Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival,[4] and Woman at War (2018). Woman at War (Icelandic: Kona fer í stríð, lit. 'Woman goes to battle') received multiple international awards including the LUX Prize from the European Parliament,[5][6] the SACD Award at Cannes' Critics' Week,[7] the Nordic Council Film Prize,[8] and ten Edda Awards.[9]

Co-creator and writer Ólafur Egill Egilsson previously worked on the Icelandic crime series Trapped, Katla, The Oath, and Woman at War.[10]

The series was produced by Slot Machine (France) in coproduction with Gullslottid and Zik Zak Filmworks (Iceland). Producers Marianne Slot and Carine Leblanc developed and produced the series through Slot Machine, a Paris-based production company founded by Marianne Slot in 1993. The company has produced works by international filmmakers including Lars von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina, Lisandro Alonso, Emma Dante, Marian Crisan, Juliette Garcia, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Sergei Loznitsa, and Naomi Kawase.[11]

Production involved collaboration with broadcasters RÚV, ZDF/Arte, DR, Yle, and SVT. Filming took place in Iceland over 54 days.[12][13]

Music

The series' soundtrack was composed and arranged by Matti Kallio, and performed by Kallio, Andre Ferrari, Pekko Käppi, and Maija Kauhanen. Trine Dyrholm performs multiple songs throughout the series, including "Glor på vinduer", "Nattog", and "Smuk og Dejlig" by Anne Linnet; "Human Behaviour" by Björk; "Vilde Kanine" by Gnags; "Euphoria" by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström; Svefnpurkur by Purrkur Pillnikk; "Smuk som et Stjerneskud" by Jørgen Olsen; "Buster" by Nanna Lüders Jensen; "Sísí fríkar út" by Grýlurnar; and "Trommuþrællinn" by Steinunn Harðardóttir.

The soundtrack was released by Crunchy Frog Soundtracks, a soundtrack sublabel of Crunchy Frog Records.[14]

Release and reception

The series had its world premiere at Series Mania in Lille, France, in March 2025, where the first two episodes were screened as part of the International Panorama Section.[15] It was subsequently presented at the Transilvania International Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and at Seriencamp in Cologne, Germany.[16]

The series is scheduled for broadcast in 2026 on RÚV (Iceland), ZDF/Arte (Germany/France), DR (Denmark), Yle (Finland), and SVT (Sweden).[17] In Australia, it is available on SBS on Demand as of 19 February 2026.[18]

Critical reception

The series received positive reviews following its festival screenings. Cineuropa described it as "jubilant",[19] while Le Figaro called it "a marvel of Nordic black comedy".[2] Le Monde praised Trine Dyrholm's performance as "extraordinary".[20]

Variety highlighted the series' originality and dark humor in its coverage of the Series Mania premiere.[1] Drama Quarterly noted the series' unique approach to storytelling and character development.[3] Der Spiegel notes: "Anyone who has a neighbor like her doesn't need an army."[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Trine Dyrholm Starrer 'The Danish Woman' About 'Explosive on Two Legs' Heads to Series Mania, Drops Trailer: 'She Will Surprise You' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 13 February 2025. Archived from the original on 14 February 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  2. ^ a b Baudin, Julia; Jamet, Constance (28 March 2025). "Empathie, Reunion, the Danish Woman... Le bilan de Séries Mania 2025 et les coups de cœur du Figaro". Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 4 April 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b Pickard, Michael (17 June 2025). "Meeting the Danish Woman". Drama Quarterly. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  4. ^ "San Sebastian Film Festival". San Sebastian Film Festival. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  5. ^ "WOMAN AT WAR remporte le Prix Lux". Semaine de la Critique (in French). Archived from the original on 16 March 2025. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Woman at War wins the European Parliament's 2018 LUX Film Prize". European Parliament. 14 November 2018. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Prix SACD de la Semaine de la Critique 2018 à Kona fer i strid (Woman at war)" (in French). SACD. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  8. ^ "Winner: Nordic Council Film Prize 2018". Nordic Council. Archived from the original on 21 April 2025. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  9. ^ "Woman at War cleans up at Edda Awards". RÚV. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Trapped". RVK Studios. Archived from the original on 24 June 2025. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  11. ^ "Von Trier, Alonso, Martel Producer Marianne Slot Goes from 'Woman at War' to 'Normal Men,' 'Oca' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  12. ^ "Not a typical Danish woman". Iceland Monitor. 6 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  13. ^ Mitchell, Wendy (2025). "Nordic Film Talks: Benedikt Erlingsson". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. Archived from the original on 16 May 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  14. ^ "The Danish Woman (Music from the Original TV Series)". Crunchy Frog Bandcamp.
  15. ^ "The Danish Woman". Series Mania. Archived from the original on 12 July 2025. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  16. ^ "The Danish Woman". Seriencamp. Retrieved 2026-02-15.
  17. ^ Anna María Björnsdóttir (14 February 2025). "Danska konan verður heimsfrumsýnd á Series Mania-hátíðinni" [The Danish Woman will have its world premiere at the Series Mania film festival] (in Icelandic). RÚV. Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  18. ^ "A retired spy tries to fix her neighbours' problems in 'The Danish Woman'". SBS What's On. 19 February 2026. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  19. ^ "Series review: The Danish Woman". Cineuropa. 26 March 2025. Archived from the original on 26 July 2025. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  20. ^ "A Séries Mania..." Le Monde (in French). 26 March 2025. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  21. ^ Christian Buss: Haferkekse und Waterboarding, Der Spiegel, 30 January 2026, p. 102.
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