WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS

An affecting portrait of grief in its rawest form, Rúnar Rúnarsson’s fourth feature demonstrates the Icelandic filmmaker’s ability to convey the stormiest and subtlest emotions of characters in crisis. Sharply focused and intimately scaled, his latest begins on a note of great happiness, as two students in their early twenties, Una and Diddi, enjoy a spring sunset in Reykjavik and talk of their future together, a future that’s even brighter now that Diddi is about to break up with his girlfriend back home.
With the next day comes a tragedy. Reeling from grief, Una navigates a series of charged interactions with others dealing with their own welter of emotions, all while struggling to decide whether to share a truth that could leave someone else shattered.