It's well-known that Lars von Trier movies tend to rake in accolades for their lead actresses – from Emily Watson to Bjork to Charlotte Gainsbourg to Kirsten Dunst – so why Kidman couldn't get arrested by almost any jury or voting body for one of her most rigorous performances in a film no less robust or impressive is a question that must remain unanswered. (Marie-Josee Croze? Really, Cannes?) As another Grace, this one very much under fire – a guarded out-of-towner who imperceptibly but shockingly becomes the whipping-girl for an entirely community's worth of prejudices and suspicions – the actress had never been more brutalised on screen, and she isn't shy of letting her own strain and exhaustion bleed visibly into the character's, without quite reaching for our sympathy.

Awards: Best Actress nominee, Bodil Awards.