Critical Response
Reaction to Dancer in the Dark was polarized. For example, on The Movie Show, the most influential movie review show in Australia,Pomeranz, Margeret (September 2012). "Dancer In The Dark". Margaret Pomeranz gave it 5 stars while David Stratton gave it 0, the only time this has happened. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said it was "one of the worst films, one of the worst artworks and perhaps one of the worst things in the history of the world." The response is reflected in the film's official website, which posts both positive and negative reviews on its main page. The diverse reviews result in an overall "Fresh" rating; 68% grade on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
The film was praised for its stylistic innovations. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated: "It smashes down the walls of habit that surround so many movies. It returns to the wellsprings. It is a bold, reckless gesture." and Edward Guthmann from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "It's great to see a movie so courageous and affecting, so committed to its own differentness."
However, criticism was directed at its storyline. Jonathan Foreman of the New York Post described the film as "meretricious fakery" and called it "so unrelenting in its manipulative sentimentality that, if it had been made by an American and shot in a more conventional manner, it would be seen as a bad joke."
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