
Victor Sjöström's Swedish masterpiece is one of cinema's great ghost stories — and one of its first explorations of the tormented soul. On New Year's Eve, a bitter alcoholic named David Holm collapses in a graveyard and is visited by a spectral coachman who collects the souls of the dead. Through a series of flashbacks nested inside flashbacks, the film peels back David's life to reveal how cruelty and addiction destroyed everyone who loved him. The double-exposure photography — ghostly figures moving through the living world — was staggeringly advanced for 1921, and the emotional weight is enormous. Ingmar Bergman called it the film that shaped his entire career. Stanley Kubrick borrowed its axe-through-the-door scene for The Shining. This is where Scandinavian cinema found its dark, searching soul.
Victor Sjöström's Swedish masterpiece is one of cinema's great ghost stories — and one of its first explorations of the tormented soul. On New Year's Eve, a bitter alcoholic named David Holm collapses in a graveyard and is visited by a spectral coachman who collects the souls of the dead. Through a series of flashbacks nested inside flashbacks, the film peels back David's life to reveal how cruelty and addiction destroyed everyone who loved him. The double-exposure photography — ghostly figures moving through the living world — was staggeringly advanced for 1921, and the emotional weight is enormous. Ingmar Bergman called it the film that shaped his entire career. Stanley Kubrick borrowed its axe-through-the-door scene for The Shining. This is where Scandinavian cinema found its dark, searching soul.

Victor Sjöström
David Holm

Hilda Borgström
Mrs. Holm

Tore Svennberg
Georges

Astrid Holm
Sister Edit

Concordia Selander
Edit's Mother
Lisa Lundholm
Sister Maria

Tor Weijden
Gustafsson

Einar Axelsson
David's Brother

Olof Ås
Driver

Nils Aréhn
Prison Chaplain
Simon Lindstrand
David's Companion

Nils Elffors
David's Companion
Algot Gunnarsson
Worker
Hildur Lithman
Worker's Wife

John Ekman
Police Constable
cinematographer
writer