Set in Oslo from 1987 to 1993, the film follows Øystein Aarseth, who calls himself Euronymous and wants Mayhem to create “true” Norwegian black metal. He builds a record shop and a small circle around the band, but his fight for fame grows dangerous when Kristian Vikernes joins him as Varg. Dead’s suicide, church fires, and a murder turn the music scene into a real crime story. The tone moves between dark comedy, music drama, and graphic horror.
The film repeatedly shows young men proving their manhood through threats, sex, cruelty, and extreme beliefs. The story shows that male pride and the need to look powerful help push the group toward violence, but it does not turn this into a modern gender campaign. The film also adds Ann-Marit, a fictional girlfriend who questions Euronymous and helps him imagine a normal life. A gay man is murdered in a brief hate-crime scene, while Satanism, paganism, anti-Christian talk, and Nazi imagery stay tied to the characters’ underground world. The main story remains about music, fame, rivalry, and the damage caused when a public image becomes real.
Community feedback
Was our 20% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Lords of Chaos.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The film uses mostly white male characters in a 1990s Norwegian music scene. Ann-Marit is a supporting fictional girlfriend, not a diversity or empowerment lead.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The characters talk about Satanism, paganism, church burning, Nazi ideas, and music status. Those lines show the characters’ extreme beliefs, not modern identity or DEI politics.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present. The story centers on music rivalry, fame, dark beliefs, suicide, and murder. The film does not make race, gender, sexuality, or a modern identity cause the main conflict.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film repeatedly shows male posturing, sexual cruelty, and the need to look tough leading to suicide, arson, and murder. The story treats this behavior as childish and destructive rather than heroic. The characters also call Norway a dictatorship and Christianity a force that controls people, while churches are burned. These ideas belong to the characters’ extreme 1990s beliefs, so the modern Western institutional / cultural critique stays mild.
24%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film changes some facts and adds Ann-Marit, a fictional girlfriend. Those changes do not turn a known person's race, gender, sexuality, or hero role into an identity message.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A very small far-right X account called the film enemy propaganda and later said it mocked the scene. A Counter-Currents review attacked the film’s VICE-style message about consumption and objected to its treatment of right-wing figures as foolish. Most other fan complaints focused on factual errors, English dialogue, and sensationalism instead of woke politics. The anti-woke backlash is real but small and mixed.
23%
Creator track record context
The VICE and Michael Moore links add anti-war, civil-rights, and social-issue background. Other writers and producers have little DEI or representation-first history, while Michael Moynihan’s record points in the opposite political direction. Åkerlund’s title-related comments use humanizing language and mention white privilege and toxic masculinity. The overall creator context is mild, not a strong woke pattern.
15%
Production
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