Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark
A Czech immigrant in 1960s America escapes into musicals while working long hours in poverty. Struggling with hereditary blindness, she is determined to secure her son’s future and will sacrifice everything to ensure he receives the operation that could spare him from her fate.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 6, 2025
Björk gives a revelatory performance in Lars Von Trier’s musical drama as Selma, factory worker and single mother with a degenerative eye condition that has her rapidly losing her vision. Though it’s too late for her to have corrective surgery, with the discovery that her son has this genetic condition as well, she works tirelessly to earn enough money while she is physically able, in order to afford the surgery for her son before it’s too late for him as well.
The musical numbers factor in when Selma daydreams about theater. The grainy film and drab factory setting stand in stark contrast to the whimsy of the musical numbers, but are perfectly dissonant together. Though I wouldn’t call myself a Björk fan by any stretch, I can’t deny that her singing voice is enchanting.
It’s a tragic and depressing tale, but completely my
sh🤩.