I think this is a very good film, but still a step down from Dogville. My biggest issue was Bryce Dallas Howard. She gave a good performance, but I still consider her to be Von Trier's weakest female lead in over a decade. I felt that she didn't completely give herself over to the role of Grace like Nicole Kidman did.

Von Trier is taking a break before completing this trilogy, and is making another Dogme film to "recharge" himself. My gut tells me that he's not happy with the way Manderlay turned out. I still think this is an excellent movie - just not the masterpiece that his past few films have been.

Liam