The fantastic Mads Mikkelsen, who recently picked up the Best Actor award at Cannes for The Hunt, stars in our pick of the films opening today: the Danish romantic-drama A Royal Affair.  Set in 18th Century Denmark and based on real events, A Royal Affair tells the story of a deadly love triangle between a young Queen, her schizophrenic King and the Royal physician – an affair that started a revolution.

Here’s the trailer:

Denmark, 1766, and Caroline Mathilde is married to the mad and politically ineffectual King Christian VII. Ignored by the wild King who chooses to live scandalously, Caroline grows accustomed to a quiet existence in oppressed Copenhagen. When the King returns from a tour of Europe accompanied by Struensee, his new personal physician, Queen Caroline finds an unexpected ally within the kingdom. The attraction between the two is initially one of shared ideals and philosophy, but it soon turns into a passionate and clandestine affair.

Committed to the ideals of the Enlightenment that are banned in Denmark, Struensee convinces the King to assert his previously untapped power to remove the conservative political council and implement drastic changes to Danish society. As the Court plot their return to power and the downfall of the Queen and Struensee, the consequences of their affair are made clear and the entire nation will be changed forever.

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, the film stars Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard and Alicia Vikander.

Runtime: 128 minutes

Also opening today – Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, Jatt & Juliet, Painted Skin: The Resurrection, and The Three Stooges