Overview
A tale of love and sacrifice unfolds in a deeply religious community, where faith and desire collide.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- devastating
- intimate
- brooding
- serious film night
- arthouse cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a powerful, formally uncompromising work elevated by Emily Watson's extraordinary debut performance and Lars von Trier's intense filmmaking.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Bess interprets Jan's request that she take other lovers as a divinely guided path toward his recovery.
Bess is judged and isolated by the repressed Scottish community as her behavior becomes increasingly transgressive.
The film's intimate, restless camera style stays close to Bess's physical and emotional disintegration while preserving a grounded social world.
Bess conducts conversations with God in the kirk and treats subsequent events as responses to her prayers.
Films like Breaking the Waves, and why
The Piano
emotionally devastating romantic drama centered on sacrificial love, religious feeling, and moral suffering
The Devils
provocative art cinema combining sexual transgression, social condemnation, and spiritual or metaphysical themes
Amour
severe, intimate relationship drama shaped by disability, devotion, and ethical dilemmas
Dancer in the Dark
raw romantic melodrama with heightened emotion, social marginalization, and uncompromising formal choices
Movie Details
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Release Date
- 1996-07-05
- Runtime
- 159 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (1151)
Cast
- Emily Watson
- Stellan Skarsgård
- Katrin Cartlidge
- Jean-Marc Barr
- Adrian Rawlins
- Jonathan Hackett
- Sandra Voe
- Udo Kier
- Mikkel Gaup
- Roef Ragas
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Breaking the Waves about?
- A fervent young bride turns love, prayer, and sexual sacrifice into a dangerous test of faith after her husband is paralyzed.
- What is Breaking the Waves like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Breaking the Waves as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Breaking the Waves violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Breaking the Waves as mild.
- What did critics think of Breaking the Waves?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a powerful, formally uncompromising work elevated by Emily Watson's extraordinary debut performance and Lars von Trier's intense filmmaking.
- Which films are like Breaking the Waves?
- Films with a similar feel include The Piano, The Devils, Amour, and Dancer in the Dark.
- How long is Breaking the Waves?
- Breaking the Waves runs 159 minutes.
- Where can I watch Breaking the Waves?
- In United States, Breaking the Waves streams on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel.
