Nymphomaniac (stylised as NYMPH()MANIAC onscreen and in advertising) is a 2013 erotic art film written and directed by Lars von Trier.

The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Jean-Marc Barr, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen, and Mia Goth in her debut.

Separated as two-part films, the plot follows Joe (played by Gainsbourg and Martin), a self-diagnosed "nymphomaniac," who recounts her erotic experiences to a bachelor who helps her recover from an assault.

Nymphomaniac is the third and final installment in von Trier's unofficially titled Depression Trilogy, following Antichrist and Melancholia.

[10] Highly educated but cloistered middle-aged bachelor Seligman finds nymphomaniac Joe beaten up and lying in the alleyway behind his apartment.

Joe takes on more lovers as she, B, and several friends create a club, "The Little Flock", dedicated to liberating themselves from society's fixation on love.

Joe writes Jerôme a letter after realizing she has developed feelings for him, but is too late as he has left with the jealous secretary, Liz.

A conversation about Edgar Allan Poe's death from delirium tremens reminds Joe of the last time she saw her father; she is the only one to visit him in the hospital as he dies of cancer.

After Seligman explains how he feels Bach perfected polyphony, Joe talks about three lovers leading up to her "cantus firmus".

Joe reminisces about a field trip as a young girl, whereupon she had a vision of Valeria Messalina and the Whore of Babylon looking over her as she levitates and spontaneously has her first orgasm.

Several years later, Joe has regained pleasure, but her genitalia have sustained irreversible damage due to a lifetime of sexual activity combined with K's brutality.

During one meeting, she sees a reflection of her younger self in the mirror, insults every member of the group, and proclaims pride in her nymphomania before leaving.

Joe explains to Seligman that she empathized with the man's status as a sexual outcast, and lauds him for going through life without acting on his aberrant desires.

During one round of debt collection, Joe notices that they are at a house belonging to Jerôme and tells P to perform her first solo job to avoid being seen.

In the present, Seligman suggests the circumstances of Joe's life were due to differences in gender representation; all of the guilt and shame she felt made her fight back "like a man", ultimately "forgetting" to rack the gun because her human worth would not allow her to kill someone.

II cast Executive producer and Zentropa co-founder Peter Aalbæk Jensen revealed that the film is to be two parts.

[17] LaBeouf got his role in Nymphomaniac by sending a tape of himself having intercourse with his girlfriend Karolyn Pho to von Trier.

[18] Slater got connected to von Trier via his agent being in Denmark and used makeup under his eyes to make himself look old enough to be Joe's father.

[23] A seven-track soundtrack was released digitally by Zentropa on 27 June 2014, containing a mix of classical and modern rock music, along with two sound clips from the prologue of the film.

Each appetizer represented each of the eight chapters of Nymphomaniac and the first one, entitled "The Compleat Angler", appeared on 28 June 2013, the last Friday of the month—this pattern would be followed for the monthly release of the subsequent clips.

[31][32] In July 2014, Zentropa revealed the poster for the Director's Cut when announcing its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

From 25 December 2013, and approximately four months ahead, the four-hour long NYMPHOMANIAC Volume I and II is released worldwide.

[44] On Rotten Tomatoes, Volume I achieved a 76% approval rating and an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 202 reviews; the website's critical consensus states: "Darkly funny, fearlessly bold, and thoroughly indulgent, Nymphomaniac finds Lars von Trier provoking viewers with customary abandon.

"[45] Volume II received a 59% rating with an average of 6.4/10, based on 126 reviews; the consensus states: "It doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first installment, but Nymphomaniac: Volume II still benefits from Lars von Trier's singular craft and vision, as well as a bravura performance from Charlotte Gainsbourg.

"[49] Michelle Orange of The Village Voice called it a "jigsaw opus, an extended and generally exquisitely crafted riff.

[51] Stratton further stated on the television review program At the Movies that he found the four-hour runtime of the film to be "daunting", but praised some of the performances, particularly those of Stacy Martin and Jamie Bell.

Stratton's co-host Margaret Pomeranz meanwhile, while also praising the boldness of the performances, felt the film's unsimulated depictions of sex didn't add to the narrative and as such had, "such an undercurrent of sadism that I was, not repelled, but distanced".

[54] On the Melbourne community radio station, 3RRR, film criticism program "Plato's Cave" praised von Trier's work on Nymphomaniac and presenters, Thomas Caldwell and Josh Nelson, defended the director against accusations of misogyny.

Both presenters agreed that actresses who von Trier has worked with, such as Nicole Kidman and Björk, have delivered excellent performances in his films, while Nelson referred to Antichrist and Melancholia, the first two installments of the Depression Trilogy, as "masterpieces".

"[40] When the complete Director's Cut had its general release world premiere in Copenhagen on 10 September 2014, major Danish critics gave it high ratings.