Official Trailer for Intriguing Swedish Film ‘Redoubt’ with Denis Lavant

by Alex Billington
February 22, 2026
Source: YouTube

“No one understands that Karl wants to help.” Sovereign Film Distribution in the UK debuted their official trailer for an indie film from Sweden titled Redoubt (in English), also called Värn (or Protect) in Swedish. This premiered at the 2025 San Sebastian Film Festival and it also played at the London Film Festival last fall. During the peak of the Cold War, a Swedish farmhand transforms his house into a community shelter, his fixation contrasting with everyday rural life, captured in quite striking black & white imagery. He gathers scrap-metal & casts it into the walls to build a fortress meant to protect him & his neighbors. His efforts are met with puzzlement by everyone but the children. Described in reviews: “Writer-director John Skoog casts Lavant as a real-life backwoods eccentric from Swedish history in this dramatically thin but compellingly bizarre Cold War drama.” Redoubt stars acclaimed French actor Denis Lavant as the real life Swedish man Karl-Göran Persson, also joined by Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Livia Millhagen, and Aron Skoog. Almost anything with Denis Lavant in it is worth watching – I’m quite curious to see where this story goes with him.

Here’s the official international trailer (+ poster) for John Skoog’s film Redoubt, direct from YouTube:

At the peak of the Cold War, farm worker Karl-Göran Persson (Denis Lavant) starts fortifying his house. He gathers scrap metal and casts it directly into the walls to build a fortress meant to protect himself and his neighbours. His efforts are met with puzzlement by everyone but the local children in the area. As the construction progresses, so does a conflict with the people in the village… Redoubt, also originally titled Värn (or Protect) in Swedish, is directed by Swedish indie filmmaker John Skoog, directing his second feature after making Ridge (2019) and many other short films previously. The screenplay is written by Kettil Kasang and John Skoog. Produced by Caroline Drab & Erik Hemmendorff. A co-production between Sweden – Denmark – Netherlands – Poland – Finland – UK – Switzerland. This initially premiered at the 2025 San Sebastián Film Festival last year. The film debuts in Swedish cinemas this month (February) and also opens in UK cinemas starting March 2026. No US release date is set yet – stay tuned. Anyone curious to watch?

Find more posts in: Foreign Films, Indies, To Watch, Trailer