--- title: "Breaking the Waves: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 6 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Breaking the Waves (1996): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 6 reviews: 5 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond strongly to Breaking the Waves, finding emotional force in its disturbing treatment of love, faith and sacrifice. Praise centres on Emily Watson’s performance as Bess: even reviews suspicious of Lars von Trier’s methods regard her as the film’s source of feeling and substance. The performances draw more consistent approval than the ideas, with Time Out also singling out Katrin Cartlidge and Robby Müller’s camerawork for their raw power. The reservations concern how von Trier treats his heroine and how much weight his religious themes can bear. Time Out questions whether the suffering borders on sadism, while The Guardian finds manipulation and absurdity alongside the force of Watson’s work. The spread is wide despite the positive majority: the Los Angeles Times offers the clearest dissent, acknowledging the filmmaking skill and Watson’s vitality but finding juvenile ideas beneath the suggestion of profundity. ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating 5/5. 3 August 2023. This is peak early von Trier, an earnest and harrowing heartbreaker that launched the director globally and features a monumental, never-equalled performance from Emily Watson as the determined yet unstable Bess. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/breaking-the-waves-1996-review-lars-von-trier-and-emily-watson-at-their-finest-cs9lc57ww) ## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo Rating A-. 16 April 2014. The film marks von Trier's reinvention toward emotional truth and heart-wrenching performances, especially Emily Watson's as Bess. It remains bracing and pure in its vulnerability despite its disturbing plot of faith, love, and self-sacrifice. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/breaking-the-waves-was-a-major-turning-point-in-lars-vo-1798180151) ## The New Yorker — Terrence Rafferty Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 November 1996. An erotic-metaphysical fantasy about a young woman's transformation into a saintly figure through love and sacrifice in a severe religious community. Rafferty singles out von Trier's recognition of the aphrodisiac properties of religious imagery. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/11/18/1996-11-18-123-tny-cards-000153467) ## Time Out — GA Rating 4/5. 23 July 2015. The critic finds this epic melodrama about love, faith, suffering and redemption emotionally overwhelming. They single out the raw power assured by the forthright performances (especially Emily Watson and Katrin Cartlidge) and Robby Müller's camerawork, while questioning whether the film's treatment of its heroine borders on sadism. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/breaking-the-waves) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 4 August 2023. The critic finds the film a ridiculous yet forceful hoax-like ordeal from von Trier that manipulates audiences, but praises Emily Watson's luminous, generous performance as the selfless wife as the element that gives it substance. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/04/breaking-the-waves-review-emily-watson-adds-brilliance-to-von-triers-windup-of-a-movie) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 1996. Skillful and provocative filmmaking that ultimately offers the flimsy illusion of profundity rather than the real thing. Turan praises Emily Watson's alive performance as the expressive heart of the film but criticizes its trite and juvenile ideas. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-20-ca-790-story.html) ## Empire — Angie Errigo 1 January 2000. The critic finds the film as frustrating as it is rewarding and compulsive viewing. They single out the daring and exalting miraculous send-off for praise while complaining about the perverse convolutions that strain credulity. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/breaking-waves-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert 29 November 1996. The film is emotionally and spiritually challenging, presenting a story of sacrifice and faith that questions conventional morality. Ebert praises Emily Watson's instinctive, animal-like performance as Bess and the film's raw power in confronting good and evil. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/breaking-the-waves-1996) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen 14 April 2014. Von Trier finds his greatest film in an active dialogue with characters and actors, creating emotional resonance amid rule-breaking aesthetics. The film is praised as a faith-based story with a punk-rock style that captures the terrifying wrongness of visionary existence through Bess's transcendent selflessness. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/breaking-the-waves/) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Rating Critic's Pick. 4 October 1996. Festival review. The raw, crazy tour de force fuses true love with lurid exploitation and religious faith into a fierce, wrenchingly passionate film. Maslin highlights its surprising power from a narrative path leading to a final image of flabbergasting transcendence. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/04/movies/the-steep-plunge-from-love-to-madness.html) ## Variety — David Stratton 16 May 1996. Festival review. An emotionally draining, soaring story of love, devotion, sacrifice and miracles centered on newcomer Emily Watson's extraordinary performance. Stratton notes the power of the theme and central performance carry the day despite flaws like length and visuals. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/breaking-the-waves-1200445816/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves.md