When The Light Breaks

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When The Light Breaks

2024

1h 20m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

97%

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29 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

When the light breaks on a long summer’s day in Iceland. From one sunset to another, Una, a young art student encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty.

Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Runarsson makes a virtue out of this narrative simplicity, however, and delivers the equivalent of sweetly moving “slow” cinema, where we get to luxuriate in the characters for long, long, sometimes wordless takes...

Rated: 3/5

May 23, 2025

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

Composed of small gestures and unspoken truths, it’s a bonsai miniature of the vastness of overwhelming grief.

Rated: 4/5

May 22, 2025

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Cath Clarke

Guardian

Director Rúnar Rúnarsson is more interested in the emotions rolling over her than plot; his delicate wisp of film feels true to life with a quietly intense performance by Elín Hall as the girlfriend, Una.

Rated: 3/5

May 20, 2025

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Nick Hasted

The Arts Desk

Rúnarsson is less interested in death than the responses it wrenches from lives on adulthood’s cusp. It’s a slight yet profound tale told over 80 concise minutes...

Rated: 4/5

May 28, 2025

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Emma Simmonds

Radio Times

This is a nuanced, intimate, and hopeful look at an unfathomable situation that says so much in its short runtime.

Rated: 4/5

May 23, 2025

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Rory O'Connor

The Film Stage

There is a rawness, warmth, and depth of feeling to When the Light Breaks that feels contrary to more cynical Western-European tragicomic traditions.

Rated: B+

Nov 22, 2024

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Andy E

This was a pretty gloomy film. An exploration of grief suffered by a group of friends when one of their friends dies suddenly. Very simple plot. I wish I'd known before I bought the ticket.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/20/25

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Rúnar Rúnarsson

Director

Elín Hall

Una

Mikael Kaaber

Gunni

Katla Njálsdóttir

Klara

Baldur Einarsson

Diddi

Gunnar Hrafn Kristjánsson

Siggi

Awards Leaderboard: Best Movies of 2024

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Synopsis

When the light breaks on a long summer’s day in Iceland. From one sunset to another, Una, a young art student encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty.

Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson
Producer: Heather Millard, Rúnar Rúnarsson
Screenwriter: Rúnar Rúnarsson
Production Co: Compass Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Icelandic
Runtime: 1h 20m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)