The Idiots

A group of young adults in Copenhagen share a large house and a radical idea. They pretend to be mentally disabled in public, staging disruptive outings that unsettle ordinary people. For them the prank is a deliberate answer to a society they see as narrow and conformist. Karen, a shy young woman, meets the group by chance in a restaurant and is drawn into their world.

Lars von Trier wrote and directed the film, the sixth of seventeen features in his directing career, following The Kingdom II and preceding Dancer in the Dark. Bodil Jørgensen plays Karen, with Jens Albinus as Stoffer, the group's driving force, alongside Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby, Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Louise Mieritz. The production involved 47 credited cast members and 41 credited crew, and was made for about 3 million USD with backing from companies across several European countries.

The film provoked debate on release. Its ratings reflect that mixed standing: on IMDb it holds 6.7 from around 36,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.5 from far fewer votes, and its critics' rating of 6.8 from 33 reviews places it slightly above those audience scores. Karen's growing involvement pushes the group's experiment into territory that tests how far they are willing to take it.