Rasmus has been given some dire news: He has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S., and it won’t be long before his muscles give out. Fortunately, he’s just received an offer from an old boarding school acquaintance, Frederik, that’ll allow him to live life to the fullest, in his own awkward way. The duo head to China, with Rasmus as the primary investor and partner in Frederik’s scheme to sell Saint Bernard dogs as luxury items to the country’s middle class. The only catch: The world’s fastest-growing marketplace isn’t as easy to navigate as the two hapless Danes might have wished.

Danish provocateur Mads Brügger's latest brings all the lessons learned from his subversive, satirical documentaries to this get-rich tale that careens from one disaster to another, with the all the cringe-comedy trappings of a great mockumentary. Taking full advantage of the comedic skills of its two stars, renowned Danish comic duo Frederik Cilius Jørgensen and Rasmus Bruun, The Saint Bernard Syndicate is a rollicking odd-couple comedy about the pitfalls of striking out into a new economic frontier.

—Ian Hollander