film

One of the Swedish master's strangest, fiercest and most haunting works, 1966's Persona stars Liv Ullmann as Elisabeth Vogler, an actress who has suffered a psychological breakdown and has gone mute, and Bibi Andersson as Alma, the nurse tasked with her care in the medical facility she has been sent to, and explores the complex dynamic that develops between the two women. The story unfolds largely in a secluded seaside cottage, where the lines between reality, performance and identity begin to blur as Alma shares intimate confessions with the silent, intense Elisabeth.

What is real and what is imagined from here is very much left up to the viewer to decide, and Bergman's genius in perfectly pitching this ambiguity has made his film the subject of constant discussion and interpretation since it was released. An uncompromisingly artistic and endlessly influential deep dive into the darkest corners of the human mind.