Rent Lords of Chaos (2018)

A lot, lot better than you'd think it would be..... - Lords of Chaos review by CR

After watching 'Lords of Chaos' (which I very much liked) , the one phrase that kept popping up in my head was 'the very epitome of toxic masculinity'.

Being a heavy metal fan and remembering the bizarre set of events, I can honestly say that Jonas Akerlund has done a really brilliant job of telling the story of what happened but leaving your in no mind the actions of these 'musicians' to each other and to others, were the actions of extremely childish yet extremely dangerous minds. The very notion of young, naive, extremely impressionable male mentality is played out in this film to devastating effect. When young men aren't capable of expressing or being able to express sometimes complex emotional thoughts, those thing scan be turned around and twisted in corruptible ways. The non-inclusion of parental figures in the film (you only hear their voices off screen) is very telling.  As a viewer you're never left feeling anything but revulsion or sadness and when the violence happens, its extremely difficult to watch, as well it should be.

Some may bypass this film as it may have the appearance of stupidity, but its view of 'gang culture' is laid very bare for all to see

Very Violent Death Metal Drama Set in Norway - Lords of Chaos review by PV

I had heard of various murders in the Scandinavian death metal scene in the 1990s and this is a drama based on a true story of one such band called Mayhem.

This is a well-made band biopic with added extreme violence - the viewer is not spared anything, and the camera lingers on it actually. The actors nail it too - I was impressed by them all.

But then, violence and murders and suicides happened. Based on a book about what happened, this film has been called 'truth and lies' - like all biopics then! Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocket Man were hardly documentaries either and twisted the truth for dramatic effect.

The script is witty and funny at times which shows just how pathetic these young people were. An interview with a journalist here nails it.

A quick search on Wiki reveals the fate of the real-life characters. One released from prison after 9 years for a murder; another still there but due to be out soon as 21 years is the maximum allowed in Norway.

To be honest, this movie is great in exploding the perfect Scandi myth promoted by so much TV detective drama - life for people in these places is very conformist and collective, which arguably stifles individuality. Norway is also hideously expensive (£10 a pint I heard) and of course left the EU too - in order to protect its oil reserves from greedy Brussels Eurocrats.

4 stars.