Exiled in Cairo, ex-cop Fisher relives his memories of his last case when working in dystopian Europe, where his disgraced former mentor asks him to solve a series of murders involving lottery ticket sellers. Using his mentor’s controversial methods, Fisher retraces the steps of a suspect.

A fascination with the extreme is written across all of Lars von Trier’s works, beginning with this mesmeric investigation of criminal minds. Captured in burnt sepia tones expressive of photographic fragments or uncertain memories, the ashen film is also evocative of a changing—crumbling?—Europe.