Persona
1966 · Movie · Not Rated · 84 min · ★ 8.1 · 89% critics
A young nurse is assigned to care for a silent, seemingly healthy stage actress. Though she talks constantly, the actress never responds, and their time together becomes increasingly tense and revealing as the nurse tries to understand what’s behind the silence.
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Streaming on HBO Max, Kanopy and The Criterion Channel — or rent from $3.99.
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Details
- Years
- 1966
- Release date
- 1966-10-18
- Language
- Swedish
- Rated
- Not Rated
- Runtime
- 84 min
- Critic score
- 89/100
- TMDB rating
- 8.1/10 (2,409 votes)
About
You’ll likely like Persona if you enjoy challenging, psychological art-house films that build tension through silence and conversation rather than conventional answers; Not for you if you want clear explanations or a more accessible drama, like Wild Strawberries or The Seventh Seal.
Pros: unforgettable performances; intensely eerie mood; deep psychological themes | Cons: hard to fully grasp; slow, uneven pacing; silence-focused storytelling
Themes
- dreams
- nurse
- confession
- identity crisis
- mental breakdown
- betrayal
- mute
- black and white
- patient
- psychiatry
- submerged
- mysterious
- +6 more
Awards & recognition
- International Submission to the Academy Awards · 1967 · nominated
Cast & crew
Bibi Andersson
as Alma
Liv Ullmann
as Elisabet Vogler
Margaretha Krook
as The Doctor
Gunnar Björnstrand
as Herr Vogler
Jörgen Lindström
as Elisabet's Son (uncredited)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman