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When The Light Breaks

Play trailer Poster for When The Light Breaks 2024 1h 20m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 31 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.

Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Romney Sight & Sound Nov 4
Rúnarsson has sharply caught the mood of a dominant strain of Gen-Z culture, the prevailing melancholy that defines so much current pop, Hall’s own songs included. Go to Full Review Kevin Maher The Times (UK) May 23
3/5
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... Go to Full Review Tara Brady Irish Times May 22
4/5
Composed of small gestures and unspoken truths, it’s a bonsai miniature of the vastness of overwhelming grief. Go to Full Review Ellen E Jones Observer (UK) Oct 8
Hall is a fine actor whose elfin face registers every ripple of grief emanating from that first shock of impact. This performance... casts these intense emotions in a useful new light. Go to Full Review Nick Hasted The Arts Desk May 28
4/5
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... Go to Full Review Emma Simmonds Radio Times May 23
4/5
This is a nuanced, intimate, and hopeful look at an unfathomable situation that says so much in its short runtime. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Andy E Jul 20 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. See more Read all reviews
When The Light Breaks

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Cast & Crew

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Rúnar Rúnarsson

Director

Elín Hall

Una

Mikael Kaaber

Gunni

Katla Njálsdóttir

Klara

Baldur Einarsson

Diddi

Gunnar Hrafn Kristjánsson

Siggi

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When The Light Breaks

When the Light Breaks (2024) View more photos

Movie Info

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)