Overview
A tale of love and betrayal unfolds amidst the chaos of superstition and fear.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Glacial
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- austere
- melancholic
- foreboding
- serious film study
- quiet evening
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Dreyer's austere, beautifully filmed historical drama as a major work whose deliberate pace and period detail deepen its questions about intolerance, repression, and moral ambiguity.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The witch trials and burning resonate with wartime audiences confronting persecution under Nazi occupation, even though Dreyer denied a direct Nazi allegory.
The pastor, bishop, and village authorities regulate accusations, confession, sexual morality, and capital punishment.
Dreyer stages the village, clerical household, accusations, and funeral rituals in severe, composed images that sustain an atmosphere of dread.
Anne's illicit love for Martin unfolds within a pastor's household where family and religious authority constantly monitor moral behavior.
Films like Day of Wrath, and why
The Passion of Joan of Arc
shared austere period drama, religious repression, moral ambiguity, and contemplative pacing
The Seventh Seal
shared severe black-and-white visual design, institutional persecution, and spiritually charged psychological drama
The Crucible
shared oppressive historical setting, intimate dread, forbidden desire, and critique of dogmatic authority
The White Ribbon
shared slow-burn art cinema, ritualized social control, and tragic examination of guilt and repression
Movie Details
- Director
- Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Release Date
- 1943-11-13
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 8.0 / 10 (259)
Cast
- Thorkild Roose
- Lisbeth Movin
- Preben Lerdorff Rye
- Sigrid Neiiendam
- Anna Svierkier
- Albert Høeberg
- Olaf Ussing
- Preben Neergaard
- Kirsten Andreasen
- Sigurd Berg
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Day of Wrath about?
- A forbidden romance unfolds beneath the merciless gaze of seventeenth-century religious authority, where accusations of witchcraft expose the violence of social conformity.
- What is Day of Wrath like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Day of Wrath as glacial, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Day of Wrath violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Day of Wrath as moderate.
- What did critics think of Day of Wrath?
- Critics broadly regard Dreyer's austere, beautifully filmed historical drama as a major work whose deliberate pace and period detail deepen its questions about intolerance, repression, and moral ambiguity.
- Which films are like Day of Wrath?
- Films with a similar feel include The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Seventh Seal, The Crucible, and The White Ribbon.
- How long is Day of Wrath?
- Day of Wrath runs 97 minutes.
- Where can I watch Day of Wrath?
- In United States, Day of Wrath streams on Criterion Channel.
