I think Åkerlund was the right person to direct this film. His sense of style, evident in Polar, is used incredibly well in LORDS OF CHAOS. His understanding of human behavior also is spot on.

| Dec 28, 2022

A dark story about egos, self-image, destruction, and of course a very interesting story.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 17, 2020

Åkerlund is able to helm pure horror, deadpan comedy and the sweaty, oppressive feel of a metal gig with equal aplomb.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 15, 2020

It's an often frustrating mix of high camp and unflinching violence - in trying to encapsulate a great deal, it positions itself rather awkwardly between tragedy and farce.

| Jul 23, 2020

There's a reason this story made global news. Lords of Chaos focuses on the sensational and outlandish elements, and though that makes for one hell of a spectacle, it doesn't offer much beyond.

| Original Score: C+ | Jun 30, 2020

It only makes sense that one of the strangest stories in rock 'n' roll history has come back to life as one of the strangest movies you'll ever see.

| Mar 11, 2020

Honestly, I laughed as much as I gasped watching Lords of Chaos.

| Original Score: 7 | Feb 10, 2020

The result is a largely uninteresting mess that never once gets close to showing us anything new or vaguely interesting.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Feb 6, 2020

Interviews, police reports, and creative license combine in director/co-writer Jonas Åkerlund's terrifically entertaining look at the triumphs and tragedies of young people in search of themselves.

| Nov 21, 2019

Lords of Chaos is a badass fucking movie. It gives any newcomer to the topic an accurate depiction of how black metal started, the key characters on the scene, and what happened between Euronymous and Varg. It is a whirlwind of emotions...

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 14, 2019

There's absolutely nothing interesting in the life of these satanic church burners... which can be summarized as a mix of chaos, prepotency, and idiocy.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 1, 2019

It's a great concept and is nicely shot but all too often feels like the product of some hipster committee meeting.

| Jul 16, 2019

That it succeeds as well as it does is largely due to Culkin, director of photography Pär M. Ekberg's striking visuals and its truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about artists who prize image over all.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 7, 2019

The special tone of the film is one of his great achievements.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 29, 2019

Lords of Chaos proves a fascinating character clash/ study and fandom exploration that enhances the surface narrative. It also makes for twisted, gruesome quasi-factual account that bends boundaries, tests endurance and turns stomachs.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 4, 2019

As someone who had carved out a persona as a misanthrope, the film has a semblance of sympathy for a person who didn't really know how to deal with his feelings when it came to the suicide of his best friend.

| May 25, 2019

Lords Of Chaos will leave you shaken, torn to shreds and thoroughly headbanged-out thanks to Jonas Åkerlund's torturous dedication to black-as-hell metal crimes. Decked in leather, soaked in damnation and ablaze with five-alarm intensity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 24, 2019

A fascinating exploration of a unique time in metal's history, in addition to delivering a cautionary tale of leading a performative life.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 19, 2019

Lords of Chaos is, at times deeply, darkly funny. This takes nothing away from its very true to life horror.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 29, 2019

Rory Culkin is expressive and raw as movement frontman Euronymous, but it is Emory Cohen's Varg that keeps us up at night. His turn from babyfaced teen to full-blown arsonist is utterly disarming.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 9, 2019