When the Light Breaks () is a 2024 drama film by Rúnar Rúnarsson. The film depicts a young woman grieving for her first love's death during one summer day.
It was selected as the opening film for the Un Certain Regard selection of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 15 May 2024.
Plot
The film's events take place over a single day in Iceland. It opens with Diddi and Una in the early stage of a relationship. They go from an ocean outlook to Diddi's house that he shares with mutual friend Gunni. They talk in bed. Diddi leaves early; Una, hearing Gunni come home, sneaks out. Jóhann Jóhannsson's requiem, "Odi et Amo" (Latin for "I Love and I Hate") plays, as an extended sequence of lights in the dark is revealed to be lighting in a road tunnel which is engulfed in an enormous fireball.
Later that morning, Una and Gunni meet at the arts college where they and Diddi study. Una has not heard about the tunnel disaster - the worst in Iceland's history - and then comforts Gunni as he reveals Diddi may have been in the tunnel at the time. The group of friends gather at a Red Cross centre, where they learn Diddi has died.
Una leaves, unable to process. After a brief reconciliation with her father, she rejoins the friends at a bar, where she meets Klara, Diddi's girlfriend. Klara reveals to Una that Diddi had said she was a lesbian, but Una reveals she is pansexual. She says her last relationship was with a man. A private conversation between Una and Gunni confirms that Una and Diddi were having a covert affair, but Diddi had told Gunni. Una confesses she resents Klara as Diddi's public girlfriend, while she must simply be the grieving friend as their relationship was covert.
The country, meanwhile, has fallen into national mourning for the tragedy. The friends go to an impromptu service of mourning at Hallgrímskirkja, Iceland's largest church. When Klara and Una leave the service for a cigarette, Klara disparages the performance art the friends were creating, but Una is able to show her how it reveals other perspectives.
They then go to one of their houses and have a tear-filled party. As the party ends, Una and Klara stand on either side of a glass door, their reflections merging. The film ends with them lying close together in bed. The film references the opening sequence by again playing "Odi et Amo" as a sequence of lights on water are revealed to be reflection of the setting sun on the ocean.
Cast Elín Hall as Una Mikael Kaaber as Gunni Katla Njálsdóttir as Klara Ágúst Wigum as Bassi Gunnar Hrafn Kristjánsson as Siggi Baldur Einarsson as Diddi
Production When the Light Breaks is a co-production between Iceland, the Netherlands, Croatia and France. Heather Millard produced the film for Compass Films with Rúnar Rúnarsson's company Halibut, in co-production with Revolver Amsterdam, MP Film Production, Eaux Vives Productions and Jour2Fête.
Release Jour2Fête is scheduled to release the film in France on 19 February 2025. It was released in Iceland in August 2024.
Reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 31 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "When the Light Breaks is a quietly powerful and deeply moving work of minimalist cinema, using its sparse narrative and sensory approach to craft an intimate, authentic portrait of grief." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 8 critics, which the site labels as "generally favorable" reviews.
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Cabourg Film Festival 2024 Youth Jury Prize https://www.festival-cabourg.com/editions/2024/archive Cannes Film Festival 2024 Un Certain Regard https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/the-films-of-the-official-selection-2024/ Chicago International Film Festival 2024 Gold Hugo – Best Feature https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000165/2024/1/?ref_=ttawd_2#gold_hugo_best_feature Silver Hugo – Best Female Performance Elín Hall https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2024/10/25/chicago-film-festival-awards-vermiglio-gold-hugo-international Cork International Film Festival 2024 Lookout Award Youth Jury Award – Feature Film Edda Awards 2025 Film of the Year When the Light Breaks Director of the Year Rúnar Rúnarsson Best Actress in a Leading Role Elín Hall Best Actress in a Supporting Role Katla Njálsdóttir Visual Effects Jörundur Rafn Arnarson, Christian Sjostedt Best Costume Design Helga Rós Hannam Best Make Up Evalotte Oosterop Best Screenplay Best Editing Andri Steinn Guðjónsson Best Cinematography Sophia Olsson Best Supporting Actor Mikael Kaaber Best Set Design Hulda Helgadóttir European Film Awards 2024 European Makeup & Hair Evalotte Oosterop Gijón International Film Festival 2024 Albar – Best Film Golden Rooster Awards 2024 International Competition Award – Best Film International Competition Award – Best Artistic Contribution Award Sophia Olsson Göteborg Film Festival 2025 Dragon Award – Best Nordic Film 2024 Club of Festivals Youth – Best International Feature Film ("Youth Film") Award of the Youth Jury – Best International Feature Film ("Youth Film") Fairplay Award – Best National or International Feature Film ("Youth Film") Lübeck Nordic Film Days 2024 Interfilm Church Prize – Best Film Motovun Film Festival 2024 Propeller of Motovun – Best Film FIPRESCI Prize – Best Film Munich International Film Festival 2024 ARRI/OSRAM Award – Best International Film Nordic Council Film Prize 2025 Nuuk International Film Festival 2023 Jury Award – Best Feature Film Heather Millard, Rúnar Rúnarsson 2024 Oslo Grand Pix – Best Nordic Fiction Film Palić European Film Festival 2024 Palic Tower – Best Director Rúnar Rúnarsson SUBTITLE European Film Festival 2024 Angela Award – Outstanding Achievement: Acting Elín Hall
References
External links
When the Light Breaks at Icelandic Film Centre