Overview
A mother's love and sacrifice shine through the darkness of despair.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- melancholic
- surreal
- arthouse film night
- emotionally intense viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as audacious and formally visionary, anchored by Björk's powerful performance, while acknowledging its grim and divisive emotional manipulation.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Selma's factory life and financial desperation alternate with musical fantasies inspired by machinery, rehearsals, and classic cinema.
Selma's progressive vision loss and fear of passing the condition to Gene shape her work, secrecy, and sacrifice.
The plot's criminal and courtroom trajectory culminates in an indictment of the death sentence.
Selma uses old musicals and community theatre as a private refuge from blindness, poverty, and mounting danger.
Films like Dancer in the Dark, and why
All That Jazz
shares the fusion of musical performance, working class hardship, emotional extremity, and tragic melodrama
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
shares an unconventional musical form, marginalized protagonists, heightened emotion, and bleak social pressures
Breaking the Waves
shares austere social realism, moral anguish, institutional punishment, and devastating emotional intensity
Pennies from Heaven
shares experimental musical structure, alienation, and a protagonist escaping oppressive reality through performance
Movie Details
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Release Date
- 2000-09-01
- Runtime
- 140 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (2079)
Cast
- Björk
- Catherine Deneuve
- David Morse
- Peter Stormare
- Joel Grey
- Cara Seymour
- Vladica Kostic
- Jean-Marc Barr
- Vincent Paterson
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Dancer in the Dark about?
- A Czech immigrant worker risks everything to secure her son's sight while transforming the machinery of hardship into musical fantasy.
- What is Dancer in the Dark like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Dancer in the Dark as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Dancer in the Dark violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Dancer in the Dark as moderate.
- What did critics think of Dancer in the Dark?
- Critics broadly regard the film as audacious and formally visionary, anchored by Björk's powerful performance, while acknowledging its grim and divisive emotional manipulation.
- Which films are like Dancer in the Dark?
- Films with a similar feel include All That Jazz, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Breaking the Waves, and Pennies from Heaven.
- How long is Dancer in the Dark?
- Dancer in the Dark runs 140 minutes.
- Where can I watch Dancer in the Dark?
- In United States, Dancer in the Dark streams on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel.
