Breaking the Waves

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Breaking the Waves

R

Released Oct 4, 1996

2h 39m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

85%

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65 Reviews

91%

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25,000+ Ratings

In a small and religious coastal town, a simple, devoutly religious Scottish woman, Bess McNeill (Emily Watson), finds a partner in an oil rig worker from Norway, Jan Nyman (Stellan Skarsgard). However, the relationship grows strained when Nyman breaks his neck in a horrific work accident on the rig and becomes paralyzed. Unable to perform sexually and suffering mentally from the accident as well, Jan convinces Bess to have sex with other men, which she comes to believe is God's work.

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Critics Consensus

Breaking the Waves offers a remarkable testament to writer-director Lars von Trier's insight and filmmaking skill -- and announces Emily Watson as a startling talent.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

[An] earnest, yet harrowing, heartbreaker...

Rated: 5/5

Aug 4, 2023

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Von Trier’s patent insincerity and facetiousness could be read as a satire on movie emotionalism, or as its own kind of conceptual art. Either way, it’s quite an experience.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 4, 2023

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David Ansen

Newsweek

There are few movies around that take such huge risks: this is high-wire filmmaking, without a net of irony.

Feb 26, 2018

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Bianca Garner

Filmotomy

Breaking the Waves is hardly an easy watch. But, it’s a powerful film which stays with you long after it has finished. I never quite know what I am going to get with a Lars von Trier film, and there’s something so exciting about that.

Oct 10, 2024

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Michael Atkinson

Spin

There may be no way to prepare for the shock of Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves, a film that accumulates moral momentum as it rolls on and bears down on you in its last half hour like a lightning strike.

Dec 27, 2022

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Wallace Baine

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Emily Watson gives this musty spiritualism a flesh and-blood sympathetic center. Her purity of emotion, be it bliss, fear or sorrow, are convincingly unactorly and the camera -- even Von Trier's handheld pseudo-documentary one -- loves her face.

Rated: B+

Feb 22, 2019

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Reuben M

I am NOT a Von Trier fan, but BREAKING THE WAVES is a beautiful exception to that. Emily Watson is breath-taking in her role and Skarsgard makes a lovely enigma for her to play off. It's a little bit long, but it takes us on a journey that shakes our very idea of what "true love" can be, what "being religious" can be and even what being "crazy" can be. Whether you are left outraged or uplifted (I fall in the uplifted camp), BREAKING THE WAVES is a tiny miracle of a movie. It shouldn't work so well, but it does. For an adult viewer who loves challenging movies, this should be on your list, for sure!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/25/25

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acsdoug D

It's not a bad movie, I can see its appeal for some lovers of drama, it's just not for me.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/01/25

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Leaburn O

Von Trier can be masterful at his best and this is another example of some stunning filmmaking. A bleak, profound, spiritual, hugely affecting and unorthodox love story. I was so close to giving it five stars and then it was ruined by a plain awful final scene that really disappointed me. What came before however, cannot be erased. Watched on DVD.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/09/24

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Mason M

One of the things that Lars Von Trier is best at is extreme emotion, and Breaking The Waves is a prime example of that. This film is shot with bleak colors and shakey handheld camerawork, but Von Trier is still able to make it beautiful through the emotion, Emily Watson's amazing performance, and amazing title cards that feel like a moving painting. Though a very difficult watch, due to the graphic nudity, almost 3 hour runtime, and heavy emotional weight, the beautiful final shot makes every minute of the film a minute well spent.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/03/25

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Lennox M

One of the best and most powerful movies I have ever seen.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/13/24

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Goran G

Emily Watson is a legend!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/29/25

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Lars von Trier

Director

Emily Watson

Bess McNeill

Stellan Skarsgård

Jan Nyman

Katrin Cartlidge

Dodo McNeill

Jean-Marc Barr

Terry

Adrian Rawlins

Dr. Richardson

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93%

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Synopsis

In a small and religious coastal town, a simple, devoutly religious Scottish woman, Bess McNeill (Emily Watson), finds a partner in an oil rig worker from Norway, Jan Nyman (Stellan Skarsgard). However, the relationship grows strained when Nyman breaks his neck in a horrific work accident on the rig and becomes paralyzed. Unable to perform sexually and suffering mentally from the accident as well, Jan convinces Bess to have sex with other men, which she comes to believe is God's work.

Director: Lars von Trier
Producer: Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Vibeke Windeløv
Screenwriter: Peter Asmussen, Lars von Trier, David Pirie
Distributor: October Films
Production Co: Lucky Red, Zentropa Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 4, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 14, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.0M
Runtime: 2h 39m
Sound Mix: Surround

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