"In the midst of life we are surrounded by death” – Lars von Trier has made it his task to remind us of this. His four-part TV series is a “memento mori” that strictly adheres to the patterns of serial structure. “The Kingdom” is a soap opera with all the obligatory scheming, rancour and romance - with a simultaneous dose of chilling death ballad that the director himself comments on during brief appearances. Von Trier has effectfully counteracted his drawn-out epic with breathless editing. The “cinéma direct” approach gives this artfully constructed oeuvre a deliberately artless appearance reminiscent of reality TV. Lars von Trier has even shown consideration for “late entrants”: Two - only seemingly - doltish dishwashers in the basement of the “haunted hospital” give regular resumés of the action like a classical chorus.