One of the most interesting choices that came with the Overlord IV adaptation was that the series skipped an entire arc—two light novels' worth of story. This left a strange gap between volumes seven and eight of that series—where we went from Ainz dealing with dwarves and dragons to the setup for the final battle against the Re-Estize Kingdom. Meanwhile, various characters chatted about off-screen events in the Roble Holy Kingdom. This movie fills that gap.
Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is told almost entirely through the perspective of new character Neia Baraja. In stark contrast to the series, we never hear Ainz's inner thoughts (aside from a few moments halfway through the film). This allows us to see Ainz more clearly through Neia's eyes. We don't know why Ainz does what he does, and Neia's explanation seems reasonable—even if we know there's more going on. It's a refreshing twist on the storytelling—not telling us the truth until the end credits roll.
That makes Neia a great character. She starts out as a lost knight, and we follow her every step as she becomes radicalized into Ainz’s most fanatical follower of humanity. In the process, she becomes a hero—not a knight of old, but one suited to the dark times her kingdom faces.
And that brings us to exploring the main theme of the film: the nature of justice. If the Holy Kingdom of Roble could be described in one word, it would be “chivalry”. It is all about confronting evil head-on and protecting the weak and powerless.
Remedios Custodio, the leader of the knights, believed wholeheartedly in this idea of justice—that if she was good and pure enough, she could find the perfect solution. While this may have been true for most of her life, Jaldabaoth's invasion showed that it was a naive dream. Almost immediately, the demihuman invaders took advantage of the knights' moral code and began using human children as hostages—knowing that the upright knights would not be able to do what was necessary to win.
While Remedios refused to abide by the cold mathematics of war—that sometimes you must sacrifice the few so that the many may survive—Neia never stopped searching for a new, more realistic interpretation of justice. It was in Ainz that she found her new ideal.
The Sorcerer King is a walking natural enemy—a natural enemy of humanity who is trying to help a struggling human kingdom. Time and time again, he steps in to help Neia and her subordinate allies, even though doing so leaves him weaker in the impending battle with Jaldabaoth. Through him, she believes that justice cannot exist without the power to back it up. However, power alone is not justice. It is power used for the benefit of others that is true justice. So in her mind, Ainz is the embodiment of that ideal—an immortal god of justice walking among humanity. The drama is simply a battle between the ideal, albeit powerless, form of justice and the image of Neia personified by Ainz. It makes for an interesting conflict like that between Ainz and Jaldabaoth.
Fortunately, the story isn’t all doom, gloom, and thematic exploration. In the second half of the film, Neia is separated from Ainz, forced to fight for her people without him. However, she’s not alone. This portion of the film pairs Neia with the demon maid CZ2128, and they form an unlikely friendship. This allows for some lightness in an otherwise sad and gruesome film. Furthermore, it shows that the former NPC residents of Nazarak can form personal relationships and even friendships with the humans of this world—not just being used as pawns in a game of world domination. Of course, this requires mass worship of Ainz to lay the groundwork, but at least there’s some hope for humanity in the future.
Visually, while some scenes stand out for their extremely graphic content, there's nothing that stands out on a technical level. Rather, the animation quality of the film is just above average throughout. There's no dip in quality, whether it's an action-packed scene or nothing but a pair of talking heads. It's well directed and well animated—a high point for the series that makes the transition to the big screen feel worth it. And as for the music, it's exactly what you'd expect—a Gothic-sounding orchestral score with a theme song composed by regular Tom Hack.
However, there is still a bit of an elephant in the room throughout this film. Those familiar with the novels will notice a lot of cuts and changes. Some of these work very well, like the aforementioned limited perspective on Neia, while others, like compressing the timeline of some events and cutting out others entirely, oversimplify the political situation and leave Neia a little less developed than she should have been. While I enjoyed the final product, part of me wishes this would have been given the TV treatment just for the extra flexibility in running time. But who knows, maybe it will be given the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train treatment and get an extended TV version in the future.
Ultimately, Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom is a great movie. It has an interesting plot, memorable characters, and an interesting thematic exploration. It's definitely worth a watch for anyone who enjoyed Overlord—and its nature as a one-off story set in a new location makes it perfect for lapsed fans as well. There's a reason this is one of the most popular entries in the series, and the film captures the essence of the story masterfully—even if there's a lot left on the cutting room floor.
