Director and Writer Ole Bernedal made his feature debut in 1994 with the cult thriller “Nightwatch” (Nattevagten). In “Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever,” starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Game of Thrones”), the film centered around a young nightwatchman who got caught up in the way of a serial killer’s murdering spree. The film tried to blend the angst of the young with the thrill of the genre. Bernedal was mostly successful at that, as “Nightwatch” was a little haywire but fairly taut thriller.
After almost thirty years, Bernadal has come up with a sequel that extends on the original story. Similar to what the “Scream” franchise did with its fifth installment, “Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever” walks the path of homages and callbacks while extending the basic plot. With modern sensibilities and a story that finds the perfect excuse to re-introduce the old characters and introduce some new ones, “Demons Are Forever” would especially work if you liked the first one. After all, it is a serial killer thriller, and it does thrill.
Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Thirty years have passed since the fateful night when Police Superintendent Wormer (Ulf Pilgaard) tried to kill young law student Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Kalinka. Quick recap: a necrophilic serial killer stalked and killed women, especially sex workers. His calling card was taking the scalp of his victims. Wormer was the investigative officer who tried to frame Martin, who took a job as the nightwatchman in the morgue. In reality, Wormer himself was the killer. Martin’s eccentrically loud friend, Jens (Kim Bodnia), ultimately shoots and kills Wormer.
In the present day, the ripple effect of the traumatic experience is seen in the lives of Martin and Jens. Martin married Kalinka, but Kalinka killed herself. She was wrecked with paranoia after her traumatic near-death experience in that morgue. Her death and Martin’s own trauma have made Martin’s relationship with his and Kalinka’s only daughter, Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal), quite gloomy. While cleaning up old stuff, Emma comes across newspaper clips of the traumatic events of her parents. This makes her curious.
So she takes her father’s old job. The same old nightguard job at the same morgue. Her morbid curiosity gets the better of her as she starts to roam around the corridors that haunted her parents. This is not the end of her curiosity as she enlists her boyfriend Frederick’s (Alex Høgh Andersen) help to track Wormer down. Emma learns that Wormer is still alive. Jens’ bullets put him in a coma, but he recovered. She cheats her way into paying a visit to Wormer in his solitary psychiatric cell. Emma confronts Wormer, who has lost eyesight and spits on him. As she leaves, she gets locked, and Wormer starts to approach her. The security guard rescues her.
Wormer’s doctor, Gunver (Sonja Richter), catches Emma lying. When she tells Emma that she plans to call the police, Emma tells her the truth about her identity and her father’s. Gunver tells her that her father would do well if he reached out for psychological help. She gives her card to Emma so that she can pass the same to Martin. Gunver emphasizes that Martin needs help.
After that, we see Bent, a fellow inmate of Wormer, making a mask that looks like Wormer’s face. Bent is a highly impressionable psychotic guy who embarks on the journey to emulate Wormer’s path. However, he is not the main killer. Bent’s first visit is paid to Lotte (Vibeke Hastrup), the fourth member of the original group of Martin and Kalinka. Lotte married Jens, but they are now separated. With help from Bent, the masked killer kills Lotte while Lotte tries to reach Martin. And this is the beginning.
Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
How Did the Killer Get His Targets?
Lotte’s death opens up the investigation that Superintendent Kramer leads. She arrests Bent and gets Doctor Gunver on board as the psychiatric expert. Lotte’s death brings Jens back from Thailand. Jens, in turn, brings Martin out in the open as they roam around the city that was their home once. Now, Bent, using the blood of his self-inflicted injuries, hides himself in a parade and escapes the hospital. As instructed by the main killer, Bent journeys towards the morgue to kidnap Emma.
However, Emma takes a break and asks her friend Maria (Nina Terese Rask) to fill in for her on that day. So Bent kidnaps her instead. Maria pleads with Bent and tells him that she is not Emma as she learns Bent is looking for Emma. Meanwhile, after a drunken night out, Jens bids Martin adieu and goes his way. That is when the killer makes him the target. With a single swift slash of the knife, Jens is killed. It becomes clear that the killer is targeting the old gang of 1994 who survived Wormer’s attack.
What Was the Killer? What Made the Killer Active?
As Emma goes through the photographs she took from Wormer’s cell, she realizes that Wormer has a son. It becomes clear that this son is the one dishing out Wormer’s retribution. When Inspector Kramer comes to visit Emma, she tells her this stuff. Kramer tells Emma that Wormer never had a son. He had a daughter. This is when Emma starts to think that Kramer is the killer. She is the daughter of Wormer, and using her police position, she is carrying out the killings, like her father did.
But the real killer is Gunver. The Doctor whom Martin finally visits. And she confesses to being the daughter of Wormer. She is eager to complete the final piece of the puzzle and kill Martin. She paralyzes Martin and brings him to Wormer’s chamber, ready to be killed and scalped by him. But she gets the call from an intensely disturbed Emma, who seems to think Kramer is the killer. Gunver learns that both Kramer and Emma have arrived at the doorstep.
She pretends to side with Emma, only to kill Kramer. Emma quickly realizes that it is Gunver who is the daughter of Wormer. As Gunver chases Emma through the dark corridors, Martin finally manages to kill Wormer. Then, he proceeds to search for his daughter. Together, they try to escape, but Gunver sees them. A deranged Gunver runs after them. However, Emma takes Kramer’s gun and shoots her multiple times.
It appears that Emma’s visit to Wormer set the wheels in motion. Gunver always harbored revenge for the ‘heroes’ that destroyed her father’s life and, in turn, her life. Emma coming to goad her father and then spit on him was the last straw. Gunver decides to complete her father’s work. She knew killing Lotte would bring both Jens and Martin into the open. And that was the opportunity she needed.
Is Gunver Alive? Is Bent Dead?
Bent is tragically killed by Maria, who sees no option but to dupe the mentally unstable Bent into succumbing to his fate. Bent was unreliably dangerous, and to save herself, Maria killed him. Now, as for Gunver, it is implied she is dead. We see Martin and Emma finally relaxing by the sea at their summerhouse. It would mean that all has ended well. However, we thought Wormer died in “Nightwatch.” But only he did not. As we do not see Gunver die on screen, there remains a possibility for a return of her.
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