"Riget" is a thirteen episode Danish television miniseries created by Lars von Trier from 1994 to 2022, split into three series, with four, four and five installments apiece. The first two have been edited into two theatrically released films with a combined running time of approximately 9½ hours for distribution in the United Kingdom and United States. Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, the city and country's main hospital, nicknamed "Riget", which means "the kingdom", the plot follows a number of characters, staff and patients alike, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural. The show is notable for its wry humor, muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of Down Syndrome dishwashers who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital.
At The Kingdom, Denmark's most technologically advanced hospital, a number of strange and otherworldly events begin occurring, much to the dismay of its doctors and patients. A ghostly ambulance appears and disappears, the voice of a little girl calls to a patient in an elevator shaft, and a doctor's fetus begins growing at an alarming rate.
The mutant fetus is born. Dr. Helmer comes under heavy scrutiny for a botched operation that left a patient braindead, and begins to dabble in the dark arts in order to ward off those seeking an end to his career. Hypochondriac Mrs. Drusse finally does have something bad happen to her medically when an ambulance hits her.
