A young woman with long auburn hair rests her chin on the shoulder of another young woman, who has shorter hair and wears a brown leather jacket. They both look off camera, gazing at something in the distance. We see a fence and green hedges behind them.

About When The Light Breaks

Told across one day with unbearable clarity, When the Light Breaks is the tender, closely-observed story of Una (Elín Hall) as she lives through the immediate aftermath of the death of her new love Diddi (Baldur Einarsson). Their relationship had shifted from close friendship into romance, too quickly for word to reach Diddi’s long-distance girlfriend Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir) who is now in town in the wake of his passing. Una’s mettle is tested as she faces the truth of an unbearable loss.

Capturing the incredible poignancy that comes with grief as well as soaring love (while never straying into melodrama), this Icelandic wonder makes stirring use of local landscapes. Yet it’s the minor details that accumulate and pack a punch. When the Light Breaks captures a day that changes everything, without offering any more answers than its characters’ experience.