--- title: "The Idiots: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-idiots/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-idiots" critics_score: 49 critics_reviews: 13 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." --- # The Idiots (1998): what the critics said Critics' score 49 from 13 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 6 negative. The reviews split almost down the middle, and the split is not gentle: most critics take a side on The Idiots and hold it firmly. Where praise gathers, it gathers around the raw, stripped-back Dogme 95 style and around Karen, the newcomer whose story pulls the film from provocation towards personal tragedy. Several critics single out the closing scenes as the strongest passage, and Eye for Film praises Bodil Jørgensen’s performance even while faulting the film around her. The Playlist rates it near the top of von Trier’s confrontational work. The reservations are about whether the premise earns anything. The Guardian finds it tiresome and puerile; The Independent judges it a weaker demonstration of the manifesto than Festen; The AV Club reports boredom rather than outrage, blaming pacing and running time. RogerEbert.com is the harshest, treating it as proof that Dogme’s rules guarantee nothing. The spread runs from the tens to the nineties, which is about as wide as it gets. ## Radio Times — Jason Caro Rating 4/5. This Dogme 95 comedy-drama creates a uniquely unsettling experience by rejecting film-making artifice as a group of dropouts pretend to be mentally disabled. It balances uncomfortable content with naturalistic performances and an ultimately liberating message. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-mur27d/the-idiots/) ## Film Comment — R. Emmet Sweeney Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 May 2015. The critic relays Knausgaard’s account of how The Idiots influenced his writing with its raw, unadorned style. He notes the film’s Dogme 95 roots and its shift from performance to personal tragedy as a key strength. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/notebook-karl-ove-knausgaard-on-the-idiots/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Thomas Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 June 2000. The critic finds the film rewards patient viewers, praising how it builds focus on Karen's personal revelation and the group's experiment fostering authentic emotions and bonding. He singles out the tender moments amid the provocative premise. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jun-23-ca-43891-story.html) ## Variety — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 1998. Festival review. The review calls the film a disturbing and provocative work that proves von Trier a true original, highlighting its raw, stripped-back Dogma style and the powerfully played final scene. It notes the eccentric thesis may limit it to arthouse audiences. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/the-idiots-1117477538/) ## Sight and Sound — Xan Brooks Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 1999. The film is a fascinating but muddled experiment in Dogma 95 amateurism that pushes boundaries with its social deviance theme. The critic praises its glimmers of genius and guerrilla style but faults the sentimental inner-child message and overly tidy ending. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/106) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 25 April 2020. Von Trier's Dogma 95 film explores performance and social satire through a group pretending to be disabled, proving consistently intriguing despite not fully delivering emotionally or intellectually. It singles out the funny satirical look at how society treats outsiders for praise while noting irritating technical distractions. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-idiots) ## The Independent — Adam Mars-Jones Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 5 May 1999. The critic finds The Idiots a less satisfactory demonstration of the Dogme manifesto than Festen. He questions whether the film's role-playing commune and anti-authoritarian stance truly force truth from its characters and settings as intended. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-letter-to-lars-von-trier-1091780.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 1999. The critic finds the film tiresome and puerile, questioning if von Trier achieved real insights into pretending to be disabled or if it lacks coherence. He concludes it's close but no cigar. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian/0,,49900,00.html) ## The New York Times — A. O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2000. The critic views the film as having little substance beyond provoking audience discomfort through its Dogma techniques, likening it to a semi-pornographic commercial. He singles out the group's pointless public antics for complaint while acknowledging the formal rigor of the approach. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/28/movies/film-review-colloquies-on-the-finer-points-of-drooling.html) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2002. The critic finds the premise horribly misguided and the film even worse in practice, as it primarily inspires boredom rather than outrage or fury due to poor pacing, tonal incongruities, and a bloated running time. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-idiots-1798194754) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. The critic calls the film astoundingly bad and evidence that even a restrictive manifesto like Dogma 95 can produce poor results. He singles out the premise of a group living as deliberate idiots, including scenes of boorish behavior, self-criticism, and an orgy with hard-core footage. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/the-year-nobody-deserved-to-win) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A-. 12 November 2011. The critic finds it one of von Trier’s most provocative and divisive pictures, near the top of his confrontational game despite its uncomfortable premise and content. They single out the brutally funny and excruciatingly uncomfortable results when the pretense invades personal lives, particularly with newcomer Karen. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-films-of-lars-von-trier-a-retrospective-20111112/2/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. The review finds no recognisable storyline and criticises the Dogme 95 style for pushing viewers away rather than drawing them in. It singles out Bodil Jorgensen's performance as Karen for praise amid the film's emotional potential being undermined by manipulation and falsehood. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/idioterne-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © 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/the-idiots.md