Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- provocative
- uncomfortable
- arthouse film night
- provocative cinema discussion
What critics said
Critics broadly view the film as a provocative, funny, and formally radical experiment whose rumination on civilization is compelling but whose narrative coherence and emotional extremity divide audiences.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film is a foundational Dogme 95 work whose rough formal restrictions intensify its confrontational communal experiment.
Stoffer's commune repeatedly stages intellectual disability in public to unsettle and manipulate supposedly normal people.
The central group lives together and conducts repeated public provocations while testing the limits of their shared project.
Public disruptions, drug-fueled communal behavior, explicit sex, and emotionally brutal tests push discomfort into the viewing experience.
Films like The Idiots, and why
Festen
shared Dogme 95 austerity, confrontational social provocation, and unstable group dynamics
Breaking the Waves
shared Lars von Trier intensity, psychological repression, and emotionally punishing experimentation
Happiness
shared transgressive comedy, communal disorder, and attacks on bourgeois social norms
Welcome to the Dollhouse
shared improvised-feeling ensemble performance, social discomfort, and abrasive humor
Movie Details
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Release Date
- 1998-05-20
- Runtime
- 110 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (672)
Cast
- Bodil Jørgensen
- Jens Albinus
- Anne Louise Hassing
- Troels Lyby
- Nikolaj Lie Kaas
- Louise Mieritz
- Henrik Prip
- Luis Mesonero
- Trine Michelsen
- Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MUBI
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Idiots about?
- A provocative Dogme 95 commune turns simulated intellectual disability into a volatile game of social rebellion, exposing the grief and repression beneath its anarchic freedom.
- What is The Idiots like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Idiots as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Idiots violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Idiots as mild.
- What did critics think of The Idiots?
- Critics broadly view the film as a provocative, funny, and formally radical experiment whose rumination on civilization is compelling but whose narrative coherence and emotional extremity divide audiences.
- Which films are like The Idiots?
- Films with a similar feel include Festen, Breaking the Waves, Happiness, and Welcome to the Dollhouse.
- How long is The Idiots?
- The Idiots runs 110 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Idiots?
- In United States, The Idiots streams on MUBI.
