Breaking the Waves

Bess McNeill (Emily Watson) is a devout naive young woman who marries a worldly, non-religious oil rig worker, Jan (Stellan Skarsgård), despite opposition from her Scottish Calvinist community. Bess has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform so she prays for his immediate return. After being paralyzed in an accident -- which Bess believes she has caused through her prayer -- Jan persuades her to find a lover and describe her sexual experiences to him.