It is the second film in von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, preceded by Breaking the Waves (1996) and succeeded by Dancer in the Dark (2000).

[4] A seemingly anti-bourgeois group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions.

At a restaurant, the patrons are disturbed by the group's antics, which are barely contained by their supposed "handler", Susanne.

Unaware that the group is pretending, Karen, a single diner, is initially sympathetic to what she believes are their genuine disabilities.

The self-styled idiots feel that the society-at-large treats their intelligence uncreatively and unchallengingly; thus, they seek the uninhibited self-expression that they imagine a romantic ideal of disability will allow.

Several try to stop her, including Jeppe who lunges himself desperately onto the hood of the car, but is ultimately removed after a tearful exchange between him and Josephine.

Karen attempts to spaz in front of her family by dribbling her food, but this results in a violent slap from her husband, Anders.

[8]In order to not violate Dogme 95 rule 2, forbidding the use of non-diegetic music, a harmonica player was recorded during the shooting of some scenes, including the end credits, even if he is not seen onscreen.

(sic)" from the back of the auditorium during the official screening of the film at Cannes, a spontaneous review for which he was ejected from the venue.

[13] Ofcom added the caveat that "while we do not consider the film was in breach of the Code on this occasion, we must consider carefully the acceptability of any similar content on an individual basis".

[13] The film is classified as adult-only in Argentina, Australia (though it has been shown uncut on TV with an MA rating), Chile, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

[17] Conversely, Owen Glieberman in Entertainment Weekly described the film as "a raw, funny, maddening ramble" where von Trier "seeks catharsis by pushing everything to extremes" and described the final scene as "a gripping moment of high torment".