The Devil’s Eye 1960

Britt-Marie, Bibi Andersson is a twenty-year-old virgin and the daughter of a kindly vicar. She is set to marry Jonas, Axel Düberg, but a much darker plan unfolds when Satan, nursing a peculiar ailment in his eye, concludes that the pain is caused by a virgin on Earth. To avert Britt-Marie from becoming a cautionary example to her friends, Satan dispatches Don Juan, Jarl Kulle—not as a lover, but as a tempted subject in a cruel game. Don Juan endures a dull punishment: every time a woman approaches him with desire, a demon interrupts and proclaims that the “show is over.” > “show is over”

Accompanied by his devoted servant Pablo, Sture Lagerwall, Don Juan travels to Earth, and a relentless demon trails them, determined that Pablo will not enjoy any sexual pleasure while there. They are welcomed into the home of a cheerful, trusting vicar, Nils Poppe. Inside, Pablo is quickly drawn to Renata, Gertrud Fridh, the vicar’s wife, setting off a tangled web of longing and jealousy. Don Juan himself encounters Britt-Marie and tests her fidelity, probing whether her engagement to Jonas is real or merely a social arrangement. Britt-Marie agrees to share a kiss, though she remains resolute about her devotion to Jonas. The demon fans the flames of trouble by sparking quarrels between Britt-Marie and Jonas, and soon Jonas leaves the house in frustration.

That night, Pablo’s infatuation with Renata intensifies, while the demon presses the vicar with temptations and misperceptions. The Ear Demon, Allan Edwall, appears to the vicar and places Renata’s bedroom key in his grasp. Instead of using the chance for mischief, the vicar uses the key to trap the demon in a cupboard, a strange moment of restraint in an otherwise chaotic scheme. The next morning, the demon reports to the vicar that he dreamed Renata slept with one guest and Britt-Marie’s daughter slept with the other, a dream that amplifies the sense of doubt and suspicion in the house.

Concerned about Britt-Marie, the vicar hurries to her bedroom and finds her alone; Don Juan, meanwhile, has fallen genuinely in love with Britt-Marie and finds he cannot seduce her as he once did. Satan, watching from his celestial seat, experiences a rare defeat: he has not secured Britt-Marie’s chastity, and he laments his momentary loss. After Don Juan returns to hell, Britt-Marie and Jonas marry, and Satan seizes upon a final, personal moment—he claims Britt-Marie’s virginity on their wedding night. Yet Britt-Marie lies to Jonas, insisting she never kissed another man; that lie, in a cruel twist, heals Satan’s eye and grants him a minor, if hollow, victory.

With the illusion of triumph waning, Satan resolves to confine Don Juan to sleep, intending him to dream of love as a punishment yet again, while the celestial intrigue among the vicar, his wife Renata, and the seduction-obsessed Don Juan continues to echo the old, perilous dance between desire, faith, and fate. The story blends dark humor with mythic consequences, tracing how a single vow and a single lie can ripple through a small community and invite consequences that reach far beyond a single bedroom door.