MOVIE · 1996
Breaking the Waves
DramaRomance159 min
After an oil-rig accident leaves her husband paralyzed, Bess faces an agonizing crisis of guilt and devotion in a small, conservative Scottish village. Emily Watson is Bess, a deeply religious newlywed whose prayers for her husband’s return seem to curdle into punishment when he asks her to sleep with other men. Opposite her, Stellan Skarsgård is the husband whose request upends their marriage and places Bess at odds with the strict church community around her. Lars von Trier builds the story around the collision of faith, desire, and the demands Bess places on herself.
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