how did bess die in breaking the waves
Breaking the Waves Dodo and Jan's doctor agree the only way to keep Bess safe from herself is to have her committed, and as far away from her husband as possible. It is then that Bess decides to make what she thinks is the ultimate sacrifice for Jan: she unflinchingly goes out to a derelict ship full of barbarous sailors, who rape and violently attack her, to which she ultimately succumbs. The church refuses to give a funeral for her and damns her soul to hell. Unbeknownst to the church elders, Jan and his friends have substituted bags of sand for Bess's body inside the sealed coffin. Jan is later shown burying her in the ocean, in deep grief but substantially restored to health despite the doctors not having thought such possible. The film ends in magical realism as Bess's body is nowhere to be seen on the sonar, and church bells ring from on high in the sky.