With his first Dogma-95 film director Lars von Trier opens up a completely new film platform. With a mix of home-video and documentary styles the film tells the story of a group of young people who have decided to get to know their “inner-idiots” and thus not only facing and breaking their outer appearance but also their inner.
A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.
With one coin to make a wish at the piazza fountain, a peasant girl encounters two competing street performers who'd prefer the coin find its way into their tip jars. The little girl, Tippy, is caught in the middle as a musical duel ensues between the one-man-bands.
A headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.
An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.
Kept locked inside the house by her father, 7-year-old Chloe lives in fear and fascination of the outside world, where Abnormals create a constant threat—or so she believes. When a mysterious stranger offers her a glimpse of what's really happening outside, Chloe soon finds that while the truth isn't so simple, the danger is very real.
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.
An orphan in a facility run by the mean Miss Hannigan, Annie believes that her parents left her there by mistake. When a rich man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks decides to let an orphan live at his home to promote his image, Annie is selected. While Annie gets accustomed to living in Warbucks' mansion, she still longs to meet her parents. So Warbucks announces a search for them and a reward, which brings out many frauds.
Ashley was raised in a picture perfect all-American family with two moms, two grandpas, two uncles, and a little brother. But Ashley has a problem, she has a crush on a boy at school, which is against everything this world has ever taught her.
A family in financial crisis is forced to sell Lassie, their beloved dog. Hundreds of miles away from her true family, Lassie escapes and sets out on a journey home.
In prohibition-era Chicago, the corrupt sheriff and Guy Gisborne, a south-side racketeer, knock off the boss Big Jim. Everyone falls in line behind Guy except Robbo, who controls the north side. Although he's out-gunned, Robbo wants to keep his own territory. A pool-playing dude from Indiana and the director of a boys' orphanage join forces with Robbo; and, when he gives some money to the orphanage, he becomes the toast of the town as a hood like Robin Hood. Meanwhile, Guy schemes to get rid of Robbo, and Big Jim's heretofore unknown daughter Marian appears and goes from man to man trying to find an ally in her quest to run the whole show. Can Robbo hold things together?
An orphan is uncertain whether she wants to remain with her adoptive family or return to the orphanage.
Lulu goes to see the magic show with the magician's act.Lulu wants to be part of the magic show but she finds trouble. Watch for the gag when Lulu is mistaken as a rabbit in the magician's hat.
Lene Thurner is standing on a train platform in Munich. She has to decide: back to Berlin where she lives, or toward the south, where at the foot of the Alps her family lives on the lonely farm “Hierankl”.
Kati and Steffi have been best friends since they were six. Now they're both 17 and enjoying the ups and downs of becoming adults together. While Kati's parents are religious and conservative, but argue constantly, Steffi comes from what appears to be a harmonious and liberal family. But the girls discover how quickly their attractive world can fall apart when, at a hip nightclub, they happen to see Steffi's father in the arms of another woman. Steffi is shocked, her trust in her small perfect world shaken to the core. She can only think of one thing: revenge.
The crew of a bankrupt Scottish trawler turn to smuggling illegal immigrants over the stormy waters of the North Sea.
Inken and Lucy are facing hard times when their parents' money is radically cut off. Together with Lena, who is fed up with her boyfriend, they desperately search for money, an apartment and love. But because each individual point is difficult to realize on its own, the girls decide to kill all three birds with one stone for the sake of simplicity. The solution: they need rich, nice boys with suitable living space - and they need them now! But until then, horrendous rents, false identities and sleazy neighbors put their friendship to the test.
Between the city and the countryside, the subtle and modern forms of slavery unfold. A girl waits for the pick-up truck that will transport her to the city. Once there, amidst a never-ending row of walls and fences, she peeks into the entrance to a school. Lined up and in uniform, those girls are not the ones Carmen will join.
Amy and Bill are on a romantic getaway when they come across an old second-hand store. Amidst the clutter, Amy unearths a beautiful antique mirror and immediately is overcome by a deep inner desire to caress and explore her luscious body in ways she never thought possible. Amy quickly buys the mirror only to discover the ghostly legend of the sexually insatiable whorehouse madame trapped inside it. Powerless to control herself, Amy indulges her naughtiest fantasies when standing before the shimmering mirror. Soon all her female friends are introduced to its seductive supernatural energy, and none of them can deny the lesbian urges that overtake their sweet young bodies, transforming them into writhing sex-machines that cannot be satisfied. But amidst the moans of pleasure, how could Amy possibly realize the terrifying consequences of her actions, and the fate the ghost in the mirror has in store for each of them. Will it be infinite ecstasy or endless erotic longing?