Interview: Director Kasper Kalle and actor Egor Venned on their Danish vampire film No Rest for the Wicked

No Rest for the Wicked is a visually stunning and haunting queer vampire movie, directed by Kasper Kalle. It stars Egor Venned as a young fisherman named Baldur and Pilou Asbæk as a whaler named Helge. Baldur and Helge eventually form a romance with each other that's upended once tragedy strikes. They also have to confront a deeply religious and conservative town within the Faroe Islands. Oh, and there’s vampirism at play, too!

The movie just premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival and won two jury awards, including Best Director (Kalle) and Outstanding Performance (Asbæk). Following the film's premiere, we had a chance to talk to Kalle and Venned about the movie's themes and shooting at the Faroe Islands.

This interview was edited slightly for clarity.

The Horror Lounge: What was it like shooting at the Faroe Islands? The film does a great job depicting the natural beauty, yet danger of them.

Kasper Kalle: I’m not from the Faroe Islands. I’m from Denmark. For me, it was a big experience to come to the Faroe Islands and see it for the first time. I went there for the summer, and it was amazing. There was sun all week when I was there, which is rare for the Faroe Islands.

I also love using nature in my films. The landscape and nature of the Faroe Islands fit so well with the themes of the film. It’s so isolated, and the fog and mountains fit well for the mysteriousness of the film and the horror. But it was also really, really tough. The weather on the Faroe Islands can change in an instant. It was really tough, but I loved it.

Egor Venned: For me, I went back home to where I’m from. I was there three months in total, two months shooting, but I went there a month before to reconnect with my home. I was also ready for what we were going to get into with the weather. I don’t think the Danish crew were ready for all of that. [Laughs].

It’s rare for it to be sunny all the time. During some summers, you may never see the sun. That was a fun experience, those weather challenges, but we also got to shoot at all of these locations, including an old house from the 1600s that’s a museum now. We had learned about the history in school, so being able to incorporate so much of Faroese history and culture was just such a cool experience.

The Horror Lounge: Vampires have a long history of sexuality and even queerness. Can you address that aspect of the film?

Kasper Kalle: It’s based on a short story from 1884, written by the German author Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. It was written ten years before Dracula. When I read the short story, I could see the vampire theme, but it was so different. It was a vampire story but told in a different way, and I really liked that. We didn’t want it to be like all other vampire stories we’ve seen, but of course, it’s still about sexuality and love and the force within us that we can’t control. I think that’s typical for a vampire story.

The Horror Lounge: Egor, can you talk about working with Pilou and the relationship that your characters have in this film?

Egor Venned: Pilou is really loveable as a human being. He’s also just a very good actor, so acting with him is just really easy. It was my first experience acting. We had some conversations before starting and got to know each other. He took me under his wing and made everything less scary and less nerve-wracking. He said we’re here to play and we could make mistakes. Because of his easygoingness, it was a nice start. Once we got going, it didn’t feel nerve-wracking, and I got comfortable really quick.

Also, the whole team made me feel so comfortable and allowed me to just explore and give my take on it from the beginning. It all ended up working organically, especially with Pilou. Because of our chemistry in real life, we became friends really quickly. I had the best experience acting.

The Horror Lounge: The sea factors so heavily in this film. What were some of the challenges of filming in that environment?

Egor Venned: A lot of things have to work harmoniously. There are so many people involved in a sea shoot. There’s safety involved. The Faroes seas are not warm. There’s a lot of technicality around it. It’s a lot of hard work. I was rowing for hours and hours on end for days. My back muscles were pretty sore some nights that I got home from all the rowing I was doing, but it was fun. I love the ocean of Faroe Islands. There’s something about it. No matter where you are on land, you see the ocean. Of course it had to be part of a movie. It’s such a part of Faroe Islands. We rely on it so much.

Kasper Kalle: The Danish film crew was not used to the sea. [Laughs]. The current is so strong throughout the Faroe Islands. It was so difficult. We used a lot of time on that, but of course, the sea is so important in this film. We needed to do the scenes, but it was tough.

The Horror Lounge: Can you speak about the role of the town and the role that religion plays in the film?

Kasper Kalle: For me, it’s difficult to talk about the role of religion. When you’re from a Christian country, it’s just so deep in everything, in culture and your way of thinking. It’s so rooted in everybody. Even if you’re not actually religious, you still grew up in a religious country, and everything is based on that. For me, it’s not a critical comment on religion, but more about who we are and where we’re from. Religion is the culture.

The Horror Lounge: Baldur has quite a character arc in which he eventually accepts his feelings and who he is. Can you comment upon his character?

Egor Venned: In the beginning, speaking of religion and the conservatism of where he was from, they look at it as a dark force. Gay love is dark and scary. It’s demonic. He’s scared of it in the beginning. He has a lot of respect and love for his mom. He loves where he’s from, but at the same time, love is powerful. There’s nothing that can stop it. In the end, he needs it so bad. He’s willing to go to the length that he goes to. It’s just a story that love always wins.

Kasper Kalle: You start to think that Baldur has to go through this big development, but it comes natural to him when he falls in love. It’s actually the mother who goes through a bigger development. It’s more difficult for her to accept.

No Rest for the Wicked just screened at the 2026 Fantasia Film Festival and will have a theatrical release on September 3.