The 2nd of Trier's films known collectively as the Europa trilogy. Both of the other films in the trilogy are The Element of Crime (1984) and Europa (1991). Co-written from Niels Vørsel, the film focuses on the screenwriting process. Vørsel and von Trier and with themselves drama, thinking up a last-minute script for a manufacturer. This narrative is intercut with scenes from the picture they write, by which von Trier performs a renegade doctor seeking to cure a modern-day epidemic.