ZeddaZogenau

Ever since seeing THE SEVENTH SEAL at the Cinemathèque in Paris, European Film Award Winner (h. C.) Margarethe von TROTTA felt a close connection to the Swedish director and Academy Award Winner Ingmar BERGMAN and his films.

A focus of her documentary is the years 1976 to 1982, when Ingmar BERGMAN lived in Munich and directed plays at the Residenztheater there. This is why two very interesting companions from German-speaking countries, Gaby DOHM (known from the successful West German series DIE SCHWARZWALDKLINIK / THE BLACK FOREST CLINIC) and Rita RUSSEK (known from the successful West German crime series DERRICK / DER ALTE), also have their say.

Gaby DOHM played the role of Academy Award Winner (h. C.) Liv ULLMANN in the German-language version of SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE. During this time, BERGMAN also made two films for BAVARIA FILM: THE SERPENT'S EGG (1977) and FROM THE LIFE OF THE MARIONETTES (1980). In the latter, Rita Russek appeared in an unusually revealing role, which still astonishes today.

Where in our present day can one find characters who could have stepped out of a 1940s film noir? Where does a washed-up man, trapped by his disillusionment, suddenly encounter a mysterious femme fatale? Of course, in one of the hotbeds of modern mass tourism!

In his first English-language (and also Spanish-language) film, German director Jan Ole GERSTER (OH BOY and LARA) casts British actor Sam RILEY as a tennis coach on the holiday island of Fuerteventura. Tom must have once been a big name in tennis, but now he gives petty lessons to tourists from a luxury hotel. One day, the capricious Anne (great Stacy MARTIN, known from NYMPHOMANIAC) asks him to give her young son lessons. The already somewhat neglected Tom is increasingly drawn into the life of the mysterious beauty and soon meets her husband Dave (Jack FARTHING, Prince Charles from SPENCER). Then something monstrous happens: After a night of partying with Tom, Dave goes missing. Murder? Accident? What happened? Things escalate and change direction more than once...

What an outstandingly crafted film! Beautiful images, suspense-building music (by European Film Award winner Dascha DAUENHAUER, who won the award in 2020 for BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ), and a story you wouldn't expect! The risk that GERSTER took with what he calls his VACATION NOIR was truly worth it. At some point in the film, there is a spectacularly filmed rescue operation on the open sea that takes your breath away. This moment alone is a highlight of the German cinematic year.

The Spanish supporting actors, who play native Canarians, are also very convincing: Bruna Cusi as hotel receptionist Maria and Pep Ambrós as police officer Jorge are just some of the highlights. Beautiful images (cinematography: Juan Sarmiento G.) of the island and the towns of Corralejo and Pájara blur the boundaries between dreamlike paradise and an apocalyptic desert landscape.

Despite its huge success at the 2025 German Film Awards, with nominations for lead actor Sam Riley (married to Bambi award winner Alexandra Maria Lara), producers Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo, and the award for Dascha Dauenhauer, the film only attracted around 50,000 admissions to German cinemas in the first three months since its theatrical release. This is such a shame and vastly undeserved. Many more viewers should see this remarkable film, so atypical of German cinema.

Anyone who has ever lived and worked on a holiday island will appreciate this extraordinary holiday shocker with its very quiet tones even more.

If you stand in front of a nearly empty classroom in German-speaking countries, you know it's the Eid al-Fitr. But that's nothing compared to what suddenly happened last summer in the class of Miss Gandy (Julia GARNER, who has emerged as the new queen of horror since her appearance in the hit series THE AMERICANS) in the small American town of Maybrook. Except for little Alex, all the students in her class are missing. It turns out that all 17 children ran away from home during the night. No one knows what happened. It's only natural that an agitated father (Josh BROLIN, Academy Award nominee 2009 for MILK), a confused principal (Benedict WONG from the MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE), and a police officer (Alden EHRENREICH) who is very familiar to the teacher have a few questions.

What happens next will likely be, and remains, the biggest surprise of this cinematic year. Director Zach Creger has created a thrilling masterpiece that inspires both intense fear and liberating laughter. Something is befalling the people of Maybrook that you absolutely have to experience and see for yourself. But beware: There are also things to see here that are definitely not for the faint of heart.

This stunning small-town story is also brilliantly told formally. From the perspectives of the various characters, new nuances continually emerge, rounding out the picture of the events.

In addition to the already impressive cast, special mention should be made of the young actor Austin Abrams and the wonderful Amy Madigan (Academy Award nominee in 1986 for Twice in a Lifetime).

It's simply fantastic what's happening in the horror film genre right now! This film could become the biggest surprise hit of the year! You simply don't want to miss this wild rollercoaster ride through small-town American hell!