Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson
Some grief is loud. Una's is the kind she keeps folded away, and "When the Light Breaks" spends a single day watching her try to hold it there.
What is Wenn das Licht zerbricht about?
Una is carrying a secret she can't bring herself to speak aloud, and the film follows her through a day where that silence becomes harder and harder to maintain. Rather than building toward a twist, the story stays close to her interior state, tracking small gestures, half-finished conversations, and the gap between what Una feels and what she's able to show the people around her. Icelandic filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson frames the drama with restraint, letting ordinary settings and quiet pacing carry the emotional weight instead of dramatic confrontation. The result is a compact character study about grief that resists being spoken plainly, and about the effort it takes to keep moving through a day when everything in you wants to stop.
Cast & crew
Elín Hall leads the film as Una, supported by Mikael Kaaber, Katla Njálsdóttir, Ágúst Örn B. Wigum, Gunnar Hrafn Kristjánsdóttir, and Baldur Einarsson. Hall's performance carries most of the film's emotional register, given how much of the story unfolds through expression and restraint rather than dialogue.
Context & significance
"When the Light Breaks" (Icelandic title: "Ljósbrot") is a 2024 drama produced across Iceland, Croatia, France, and the Netherlands, directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson and running a tight 82 minutes. Its European co-production roots and minimalist style place it firmly in the tradition of Nordic art-house cinema, favoring mood and observation over plot mechanics, and its brief runtime is part of the design rather than a limitation.
Where & how to watch
"When the Light Breaks" is available on K-Time with Persian subtitles. The page can be read by anyone without an account, and streaming the film itself only requires a K-Time login, part of the platform's ongoing effort to bring international art-house cinema to Farsi-speaking audiences in the diaspora.