The Idiots

Play trailer

The Idiots

R,

1998,

1h 55m,

Comedy/

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

73%

33 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Karen (Bodil Jørgensen) is dining alone at a crowded restaurant when a group of people who seem to be mentally disabled enter and disrupt everyone's meal. Discerning that they are not what they seem, Karen returns with the group to the large communal house they inhabit with charismatic Stoffer (Jens Albinus). This group of intellectuals is attempting to challenge bourgeois ideology by behaving like "idiots" in public. Karen, however, may take the act further than any of them had planned.

Critics Consensus

The Idiots feels more like an experiment than a coherent narrative, but director Lars von Trier's provocative style and rumination on civilization will leave most audience members feeling like satisfied test subjects.

Read Critics Reviews

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Aug 16, 2023

3/5

The Idiots works as a situationist provocation about a situationist provocation, though claiming the sentimental high ground at the end.

Go to Full Review

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Feb 14, 2001

3.5/5

The Idiots suggests that if Danish iconoclast Lars von Trier's filmsare getting tougher, they're also continuing to reward the patient.

Go to Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Jan 1, 2000

B

A raw, funny, maddening ramble.

Go to Full Review

Joe Flockhart

Loud and Clear Reviews

Mar 2, 2026

3.5/5

Like most of von Trier’s films, beneath the ugliness there is heart and compassion, so if you can get past the hideous aesthetic, you’ll be rewarded.

Go to Full Review

Gilbert Adair

Independent on Sunday

Nov 27, 2017

Not everyone's cup of tea and, indeed, not a cup of tea at all, but one of those extremely rare films that aren't content to leave the cinema as they found it.

Go to Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Jul 16, 2009

B

The first Dogme film of enfant terrible Lars von Trier challenges viewers to reexamine their social mores and cinema habits of voyeurism and pleasure.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Poe G

Apr 6, 2019

7 7 8 8 8 8 8 9 10 10 = 83 3/31, 2019

Abraham G

Jul 8, 2018

Lars von Trier's first (and only) film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 manifesto (which he co-authored) is in itself already a cynical and deliberately provocative satire, superfluously of society, but more of Dogme 95's objectives.

See more

Ron S

Sep 11, 2017

The Idiots is a dark and daring deconstruction of societal attitudes towards disability, coupled with a meditation on the fleeting, never-quite-attainable nature of freedom. Sticking semi-strictly the constraints of Dogme 95 filmmaking, this fuzzy film charts the punk-inspired mishaps of a group of people who like to go out and pretend to have learning disabilities - and claim to have one or two good reasons for doing so. Some spout bizarre anti-establishment arguments in favour of the freedom and simplicity of the lives of the less capable and self-aware, which they believe better the constraints of an educated existence dedicated to the building up of 'middle class bullshit'. Others are merely disturbed, traumatised or bored with the severity of a serious life, and in desperate need of a frivolous escape. Slowly but surely, writer-director Lars Von Trier's characters grow increasingly obsessed with the idea of trying to channel their 'inner idiots'. As this happens, the film's challenging concept and character psychology grow ever more understandable, yet ever more unattainable - much like the deranged sense of freedom and community each lost soul so desperately wants and needs to claim as their own. The Idiots is a bold, ballsy character study; unique, uncompromising and utterly unforgettable.

See more

Read all reviews

Lars von Trier

Director

Jens Albinus

Stoffer

Anne Louise Hassing

Susanne

Bodil Jørgensen

Karen

Nikolaj Lie Kaas

Jeppe

Troels Lyby

Henrik

The Draughtsman's Contract

97%

85%

The Draughtsman's Contract

Watchlist

TRAILER

for The Draughtsman's Contract

The Crying Game

95%

78%

The Crying Game

Watchlist

Jesus of Montreal

71%

87%

Jesus of Montreal

Watchlist

Human Traffic

59%

89%

Human Traffic

Watchlist

The Killing of Sister George

59%

78%

The Killing of Sister George

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

RT Interview: Lars von Trier on Antichrist

View more photos

Synopsis

Karen (Bodil Jørgensen) is dining alone at a crowded restaurant when a group of people who seem to be mentally disabled enter and disrupt everyone's meal. Discerning that they are not what they seem, Karen returns with the group to the large communal house they inhabit with charismatic Stoffer (Jens Albinus). This group of intellectuals is attempting to challenge bourgeois ideology by behaving like "idiots" in public. Karen, however, may take the act further than any of them had planned.

Director: Lars von Trier
Producer: Vibeke Windeløv
Screenwriter: Lars von Trier
Distributor: USA Films, Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Zentropa Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Danish
Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 1998, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jul 27, 2004
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.2K
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, Surround

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings