--- title: "Dancer in the Dark" year: 2000 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/dancer-in-the-dark" fi1m_id: "dancer-in-the-dark" imdb_id: "tt0168629" tmdb_id: 16 wikidata_id: "Q110365" fi1m_score: 71 critics_score: 52 critics_reviews: 14 published: "2026-09-14" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:00.938163+00:00" region: "US" 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." --- # Dancer in the Dark (2000) Directed by Lars von Trier · 2h 20m · MPA R · Drama, Crime ## Identity Dancer in the Dark - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/dancer-in-the-dark - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** dancer-in-the-dark - **IMDb ID:** tt0168629 - **TMDB ID:** 16 - **Wikidata ID:** Q110365 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168629/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/16, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110365 **Fi1m score: 71** · Critics 52 from 14 reviews *In a sentence:* Every time Björk sings, we briefly forgive Lars von Trier for putting us through this > Björk makes Lars von Trier’s punishing musical worth the distress. The songs give Selma a life beyond her suffering, though the script’s contrivances make us resist some of the tears it demands. ## Synopsis Selma Jezkova (Björk) finds refuge in imagined song-and-dance numbers, with everyday sounds setting the rhythm. As her circumstances become more difficult, she retreats into musical fantasies that offer a different version of the life around her. Her willingness to put others first brings the story towards questions of sacrifice and the limits of goodness. Catherine Deneuve plays Kathy, David Morse plays Bill Houston and Peter Stormare plays Jeff in Lars von Trier’s drama, which moves between Selma’s daily existence and the musical scenes she imagines. Björk also provides the music. ## Review *Dancer in the Dark* is worth seeing for Björk, and worth approaching with some caution about Lars von Trier. His musical asks us to care about a woman who escapes into imagined song and dance as her life becomes harder to bear. Björk makes that woman matter, even when the film’s determination to make her suffer becomes exhausting. The songs matter because they let Selma Jezkova have something to do besides endure the next ordeal. Björk gives Selma an uncertainty that makes the character’s goodness easier to believe. There is something unsettled in the performance, a sense that speaking to another person takes effort and that singing allows her a little more freedom. That could have become an assortment of endearing peculiarities, and the writing occasionally encourages it. Björk keeps the vulnerability uncomfortable enough to prevent us from settling into fondness. Even when we doubt the situation von Trier has arranged, we believe that she is feeling it. Robby Müller’s rough digital photography makes looking at her an uneasy business; it offers little distance from the performance. The image can be ugly, and its insistence on roughness sometimes makes the drama feel laboured. Karl Júlíusson’s production design likewise offers scant relief when the film turns towards fantasy. The musical settings feel too little transformed, which keeps Selma’s imagined happiness close to her everyday life but also limits the pleasure of watching the numbers. Björk’s music is far more persuasive about why Selma needs these escapes. Everyday sounds supply the beginnings of songs, so her daydreaming has something ordinary and audible to grow from. We were moved when those noises became music, because the change makes her wish for a kinder life so easy to understand. Editors François Gédigier and Molly Malene Stensgaard keep the contrast between the drama and the imagined numbers exposed. The shifts can be awkward, but smoothing them out would risk making Selma’s retreat into song seem too comfortable. This is where the film makes an interesting demand on the musical. We usually expect a number to offer some enjoyment of its own, even when the surrounding story is unhappy. Von Trier lets dread persist through the singing, so that Selma’s pleasure never quite becomes ours. That can be affecting, though at 140 minutes the sustained dread becomes wearing. A little more delight in the dancing would have made her attachment to musicals easier to share. The larger problem is von Trier’s writing, which treats Selma’s goodness as permission to keep arranging difficulties for her. Melodrama can survive unlikely behaviour, but it still needs us to accept the people making the decisions. Here, too often, we can see the decision being made on their behalf by a writer determined to increase the distress. The contrivances become distracting, and Björk has to persuade us of feelings that the script has not properly earned. The divided reviews are understandable, though we cannot accept the claim that Björk cannot carry the part. The film gives us reasons to resist its pressure, and she keeps making that resistance difficult. We recommend it to anyone willing to be upset by a musical and annoyed by the means it uses. Leave some quiet time afterwards. *Fi1m score 71, published 14 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews split almost down the middle, and the split is a real one: there is no mixed verdict here, only critics who are overwhelmed and critics who are appalled. Where there is agreement it is on Björk, whose performance as Selma most critics call the film’s one undeniable element, praised even by several who dislike everything around it. The admirers also value the way the musical numbers grow out of factory noise and everyday sound, and the collision of dread with rapture that follows. The objections cluster around manipulation: the plot contrivances, the melodramatic excess, and a tale of saintly self-sacrifice that some find hollow rather than moving. The Guardian and the Evening Standard go further, dismissing Björk’s performance as ridiculous or lifeless, and Variety faults the editing and sound of the numbers themselves. The New York Times sits oddly across the divide, finding the film both stupefyingly bad and overpowering, which is roughly where the consensus lands. ## Straight answers **Is Dancer in the Dark worth watching?** *Dancer in the Dark* is worth watching for Björk’s performance and her songs, and we scored it 71. Lars von Trier keeps arranging fresh ordeals for Selma, and at 140 minutes the dread wears thin, so it suits viewers willing to be upset by a musical and irritated by how it goes about it. Leave some quiet time afterwards. **How long is Dancer in the Dark, and what is it rated?** *Dancer in the Dark* runs 2h 20m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and crime film. **Where can I watch Dancer in the Dark in the US?** *Dancer in the Dark* is streaming on MUBI and Apple TV in the US. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Dancer in the Dark, and is it suitable for children?** *Dancer in the Dark* carries a UK 15 certificate and is a punishing film rather than a frightening one, unsuitable for children. There is little on-screen violence in the horror sense; the distress comes from watching a good woman put through one hardship after another, with the imagined song-and-dance numbers offering only brief relief. Older teenagers who can take sustained bleakness will manage it; the squeamish about misery should not. **How does Dancer in the Dark compare to The Red Shoes?** *Dancer in the Dark* and [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes) both treat music and dance with a seriousness that becomes hard to bear, but the earlier film is the more accomplished and the easier to recommend. Powell and Pressburger make a dancer’s ambition seductive as well as dangerous, while von Trier lets dread persist through the numbers so that Selma’s pleasure never quite becomes ours. Choose *The Red Shoes* for anyone; choose *Dancer in the Dark* for Björk. **What should I watch after Dancer in the Dark?** After *Dancer in the Dark*, try [*The Umbrellas of Cherbourg*](https://film.one/film/the-umbrellas-of-cherbourg) (1964, Fi1m 88): For another musical in which singing offers no protection from ordinary disappointment. Then [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes) (1948, Fi1m 92): For dance pursued with a seriousness that becomes increasingly difficult to bear; and [*A Woman Under the Influence*](https://film.one/film/a-woman-under-the-influence) (1974, Fi1m 86): Another vulnerable central performance that makes domestic distress painfully hard to dismiss. ### Reviews we read (14) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film one of the year's most wrenching and unforgettable, praising how its musical sequences arise naturally from the story and reflect the heroine's generous worldview. Björk's vulnerable lead performance is singled out as what elevates the film beyond gimmickry. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/dancer-in-the-dark-1798192565) - **Total Film** (90/100, inferred): Von Trier subverts and celebrates the musical genre with fantasy numbers triggered by everyday sounds; the film oozes dread but delivers a profound, heart-breaking performance from Björk and is the most involving cinema experience of the year. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/dancer-in-the-dark-review/) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (80/100, inferred): Lars von Trier makes a powerful film that is both a musical and a meditation on musicals, mostly shot in Dogme style but with fantasised numbers. Björk gives a marvellous performance in a difficult role, and the result is haunting and beautiful. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dancer-dark-review/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (70/100, inferred): Ebert views the film as a deliberate, reckless throwback to silent melodrama and soap opera fundamentals rather than a plausible story. He praises its bold rejection of slick modernism and Björk's committed performance as Selma. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dancer-in-the-dark-2000) - **Screen Daily** (70/100, inferred): A bold genre fusion of song-and-dance fantasy and gut-wrenching melodrama that divides audiences but wins over the jury. Björk's debut performance is singled out as the revelation, growing in stature throughout. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/dancer-in-the-dark/402286.article) - **Sight and Sound**, Peter Matthews (70/100, inferred): Björk delivers an astonishing performance that carries the film despite its florid situations. The critic highlights the plangent score as key to the movie's emotional power and devastating impact. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/339) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (70/100, inferred): Lane calls the film divisive and notes its solemn musical numbers even at the gallows, praising the way it blends dread with rapture and Björk's unfeigned flightiness. He singles out the raw exposure of pain and the contrast between musical reveries and grim reality. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/09/25/singin-through-the-pain) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (30/100, inferred): Turan finds the film exasperating in its contradictions, fakery, and pretensions, criticizing its crude visuals, melodramatic excesses, and inauthentic approach. He singles out Björk's intense, genuine performance as the one authentic element amid the dross. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-oct-06-ca-32001-story.html) - **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott (30/100, inferred): Scott finds the film both stupefyingly bad and utterly overpowering, praising Björk's miraculous performance while noting its sadistic elements and refusal to move viewers in conventional ways. He highlights the tension between artistic conviction and cynicism. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/22/movies/film-festival-review-universe-without-happy-endings.html) - **Time Out**, GA (30/100, inferred): The film is seen as a hollow, emotionally upfront tale of saintly self-sacrifice with disingenuous plot contrivances. The musical sequences are criticised for imaginative poverty and the overall work falls short of von Trier's best or classic musicals. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/dancer-in-the-dark) - **Evening Standard** (10/100, inferred): Lars von Trier's musical is a disaster in every department and a waste of talent, with Björk giving a lifeless performance; the digital photography and numbers fail to work, and the whole enterprise is amateurish and over-the-top sentimental nonsense. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/dancer-in-the-dark-7433583.html) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (10/100, inferred): The critic calls Dancer in the Dark the most sensationally silly film of the year, as well as the most shallow and crudely manipulative. He singles out Björk's performance as a ridiculous, squeaking diva turn and the plot as implausibly absurd and melodramatic. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/sep/15/1) - **Variety**, Derek Elley (10/100, inferred): The critic pans the film as a self-important, artistically bankrupt exercise in auteurist excess that fails to reinvent the musical genre effectively. Bjork's performance is seen as awkward and lacking the dramatic weight needed, with the musical numbers undermined by poor editing and sound. [Read](https://variety.com/2000/film/markets-festivals/dancer-in-the-dark-2-1200462151/) - **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (80/100, inferred): The critic praises Björk's intuitive acting talent that breaks the heart, highlighting her performance in the film's second half where her character's goodness is tested. The film is noted for its raw, Dogme-style approach and emotional depth in exploring sacrifice. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/dancer-in-the-dark-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Details - **Director:** Lars von Trier - **Director:** Lars von Trier - **Writer:** Lars von Trier - **Cinematography:** Robby Müller - **Editor:** François Gédigier, Molly Malene Stensgaard - **Music:** Björk - **Production design:** Karl Júlíusson - **Costume design:** Manon Rasmussen - **Producer:** Vibeke Windeløv, Leo Pescarolo - **Cast:** Björk as Selma Jezkova; Catherine Deneuve as Kathy; David Morse as Bill Houston; Peter Stormare as Jeff; Joel Grey as Oldrich Novy; Cara Seymour as Linda Houston; Vladica Kostic as Gene Jezkova; Jean-Marc Barr as Norman - **Runtime:** 2h 20m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 6 October 2000 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime - **Also in:** [Palme d'Or winners](https://film.one/collections/palme-dor.md) (Winner, 2000) - **Budget:** $12 million - **Box office:** $40 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddcCwLqtT8w ## Where to watch in the US - MUBI: streaming, uhd - Apple TV: add-on, uhd *Checked 2026-09-14.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, DK, FI, FR, GB, IN, IT, JP, MX, NO, PA, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - César Award for Best Foreign Film 2001: César Award for Best Foreign Film (nominated) - Goya Award for Best European Film 2001: Goya Award for Best European Film (won) - Independent Spirit Awards 2001: Best Foreign Film (won) - Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film 2001: Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film (won) - Robert Award for Best Production Design 2001: Robert Award for Best Production Design (won) - Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture 2001: Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture (nominated) - Satellite Award for Best Film 2001: Satellite Award for Best Film (nominated) - Cannes Film Festival 2000: Best Actress (won); Palme d'Or (won) - European Film Award for Best Actress 2000: European Film Award for Best Actress (won) - European Film Award for Best Film 2000: European Film Award for Best Film (won) - European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director 2000: European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director (won) - Golden Globes 2000: Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama (nominated) - Jameson People's Choice Award for Best Actress 2000: Jameson People's Choice Award for Best Actress (won) - Robert Award for Best Costume Design 2000: Robert Award for Best Costume Design (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* (1964), Fi1m 88: For another musical in which singing offers no protection from ordinary disappointment. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-umbrellas-of-cherbourg.md) - *The Red Shoes* (1948), Fi1m 92: For dance pursued with a seriousness that becomes increasingly difficult to bear. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md) - *A Woman Under the Influence* (1974), Fi1m 86: Another vulnerable central performance that makes domestic distress painfully hard to dismiss. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-woman-under-the-influence.md) - *The Music Room* (1958), Fi1m 88: For music, stubborn devotion and a less forceful invitation to feel sorrow. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-music-room.md) - *Nobody Knows* (2004), Fi1m 87: For everyday hardship observed with patience, and compassion without so much insistence. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/nobody-knows.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/dancer-in-the-dark