Björk gives a haunting, career-defining performance as Selma, a Czech immigrant slowly going blind while working at a factory, desperately saving money for her son’s future. Catherine Deneuve offers quiet strength as her loyal friend Kathy, grounding the story’s emotional intensity. Shot mostly with handheld cameras and natural lighting, the film draws on von Trier’s early Dogme 95 principles—but breaks key rules through its lush musical numbers allegedly shot with over 100 stationary digital cameras, and stylized 1960s period setting. 

Winner of the Palme d’Or and fiercely debated for 25 years, the film has left a lasting mark on musical cinema. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote for the Chicago Reader, it’s a “feature-length music video with interspersed dialogue — [that] deserves to be seen because it’s a freakish provocation.” Harsh, operatic, and deeply affecting, Dancer in the Dark turns the musical form against itself—offering no escape, only feeling. 

As much an experiment in emotional manipulation as in cinematic form, the film has inspired both awe and outrage. Its abrasive blend of naturalism and fantasy, paired with Björk’s raw vulnerability, makes it unlike any musical before or since. Whether you love it or recoil from it, Dancer in the Dark demands to be seen—and felt—on the largest screen possible.