Dancer in the Dark

Selma Jezkova is a Czech immigrant whose world grows dim as her vision fades. She struggles to provide for herself and her young son, who shares the same hereditary illness and faces a grim fate without an expensive operation. In a town of gray factories and crowded apartments, debt presses from every direction and daily chores eat into what little hope is left. To stay afloat she takes a low paid job and pries little joys from tiny mercies. When the weight of fear becomes too much, she escapes into make believe, turning the world outside into a stage. She imagines musical numbers erupting around the clanging machines and street noises, a bright, private theater inside her head. The film follows her grit and her flights of fancy, balancing hardship with moments of luminous escape.

Directed by Lars von Trier with a screenplay by von Trier and Sjón, the movie is an original drama that fuses stark realism with musical fantasy and international festival appeal, illustrating the director's signature blend of intimate emotion and provocative style.

The film earned about 40,061,153 dollars worldwide against a 12.5 million budget, signaling a strong reception in art house theaters and festival circuits while delivering a provocative, memorable experience.

Björk's performance as Selma turned the film into a talking point in art house circles. The seamless blend of musical dream sequences with a bleak social realist setting influenced later filmmakers to experiment with song as emotional scaffolding in drama, leaving a lasting imprint on how music can shape mood and narrative.

Critics largely praised the film for its fearless approach and Björk's fearless work, even as some found the execution polarizing. Central themes include motherhood, disability, poverty, and the way imagination can offer solace amid systemic hardship.