Danish director Lars von Trier wraps controversy around himself like a security blanket. Whether he’s declaring himself the greatest living director or sympathizing with Hitler, the man’s not afraid to provoke the uptight media (who deserve a damn good provocation). What’s great and interesting about his latest film, Melancholia, is that it doesn’t push anyone’s buttons. I don’t see how it could, at least. There’s none of the overt savagery toward mankind’s evil genitalia found in Antichrist, but what Melancholia does show is the end of the world, and these are in its opening minutes. It’s a very personal film about depression, which von Trier says crippled him for years. It’s also downright hilarious and this time, we’re laughing with the talking fox, not at him.

The film opens with a super-slow-motion montage of the end of the world: several intimate vignettes – almost like paintings (think the train scene from Antichrist) – show characters and ideas to come later in the movie as the planet Melancholia smashes into Earth. The rest of the film told in two parts: “Justine” and “Claire.” The first part is all about the wedding reception of Justine, played by Kirsten Dunst in what’s hands-down her best performance since Virgin Suicides. It’s through Dunst that von Trier exorcises the experiences he had with his own depression and she carries the weight with a truly confident performance. With the help of an excellent ensemble cast, von Trier shows how Justine’s deep depression affects the rest of her family, including her husband, played by Alex Skarsgard. Skarsgard tries to buy Justine some happiness with an orange grove he purchased; he doesn’t know what else to do for her. No one does.

Her brother-in-law, played by a shockingly impressive Kiefer Sutherland, is constantly reminding her how expensive the reception is. Her dad, played by John Hurt who gives a terrific performance for the short amount of time he’s on screen, drinks away her daughter’s depression. But it’s her sister, Claire, that is cut-off the most by Justine’s doldrums.

Played with some of that raw animosity we saw in Antichrist, Charlotte Gainsbourg (as Claire) is the family member most frustrated by Justine’s depression. Claire works very hard to sort of work with the depression to make Justine happy and not uncomfortable, but nothing works. Not even meatloaf! Watching Justine’s attempts is difficult, sometimes heartbreaking. It’s a painful but honest relationship to watch and the two actresses play off each other perfectly.

During the doomed wedding reception is where von Trier flexes his achingly dry sense of humor. He doesn’t take jabs at in-laws or anything easy like that. Instead, he pokes at how idiotic elaborate events (like wedding receptions for rich people) are. Events that are supposed to be fun celebrations usually turn into heaps of stress, and von Trier has a lot of fun with this. So much fun that he cast bizarro extraordinaire Udo Kier as the wedding planner. His brief role is funnier than the entire running length of most comedies that came out this year. von Trier previously showed a woman giving birth to a full-grown Udo Kier in his TV mini-series The Kingdom – an image permanently burned in my memory.

Things take a very serious turn in “Claire.” This is the end of the world, after all. Justine holes up at Claire’s estate after a planet (named Melancholia) that was hiding behind the sun shows itself. Scientists, including Kiefer, are predicting that the planet will harmlessly pass by Earth, while other theorists state that it’s going to hit Earth head on – bringing about the end of the world. This gives Claire debilitating anxiety. There’s three extreme emotions going on in the second part of the film: Claire’s anxiety, Justine’s depression, and Kiefer’s ecstatic enthusiasm for Melancholia’s “fly-by.” All three are played with a raw honesty that didn’t come from von Trier driving his female leads insane. As far as I know.

From its slo-mo prologue to the apocalyptic end, Melancholia is fucking beautiful. von Trier has switched cinematographers since Antichrist (apparently he wasn’t happy about the look of the film’s B&W opening) but every take of Melancholia is stunning. He’s not used to using so much CGI in his films, but the effects are awesome (seriously, see this on a big screen). The final shot of the end of the world is especially memorable.

While Dunst won best actress at Cannes for her performance, I’m gonna have to give it to Gainsbourg. Not to say Dunst didn’t deserve it – she’s absolutely amazing in the film – but I feel like Gainsbourg is just a better actress. Plus, playing anxious about the end of the world without coming off as hammy is more difficult than being chill and depressed about it. I’m not complaining though, every single actor kills it in Melancholia.

When you start a movie with the end of the world, you better have the stones to make the rest of it interesting. We know these characters are doomed from the jump-off, but we still need to care about them to sit through the rest. von Trier accomplished this and so much more. Melancholia is a brilliant and stunning film every minute of the way. It’s the first realistic depiction of severe depression I can remember ever watching and falls into that elite and glorious category of great, human-focused science fiction. The world’s gonna end someday, folks, the question is how are you going to handle it.

Melancholia hits U.S. theaters on November 11.

- Oh Mars