AllMovie

This dark and extremely grim Swedish drama is set at the end of the 19th century and centers upon an imprisoned woman awaiting her execution. Her story is told via flashback. The trouble began when she and her son were tried for murder and incest. Before the trial, rumors were spread about the scandalous relationship. To quell them, the son married another woman. Unfortunately, the young man was impotent and unable to consummate the marriage. The bride tried to force the issue and the enraged fellow beat her unconscious, and his mother then strangled her to death. The mother then tricked her son into confessing to the murder.