Cuatro por cuatro

The premise of _Du Sie Er & Wir_ (The Four of Us) starts off promising: four friends, two couples, a partner-swapping experiment lasting four weeks, all governed by the rules of an "adult experiment." The stage is perfectly set for a biting, provocative, and daring social critique.

The problem is that as the film unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that someone forgot to hire a real screenwriter. The script relies on superficial dialogue, predictable situations, and characters who-despite the actors' efforts-fail to rise above the surface.

There's a lack of dramatic depth. The film seems lost between its desire to be provocative and its reluctance to truly dig deep, resulting in a flimsy development with no narrative pulse and no real evolution of conflict. The "big idea" is there-yes, the critique of traditional relationship models, the exploration of desire, insecurity, envy, and jealousy-but everything remains at the level of intention.

The writing is apathetic, unable to truly provoke the viewer or deliver any genuine discomfort. The characters are underdeveloped, and this is a basic error: there's no emotional evolution, no impact. The script merely skims the surface of its major themes without the courage to dive in, as if it's afraid to get its hands dirty. The result is a film that promises revolution and delivers little more than empty talk disguised as "contemporary drama."

In the end, _Du Sie Er & Wir_ is a beautiful display window with no product. It has style, it has aesthetic, it has that pretentious "look how modern and free we are" attitude, but it lacks substance, courage, and structure. I give it a 6, and I might be being generous. The film lacked a script, but had plenty of attitude.

Kalenberg is absolutely phenomenal.

Nay is great as well.

Nitsche is a mixed bag.

Farooq is miscast.

Honestly, what is going on with Paula Kalenberg?

Incredible from the first to the last scene.

Back to the story: The first half is great.

Not a fan of rom-coms, especially Germans.

Very little great came out in this particular genre within the last decade, but the first 45 minutes set the movie up just as well as "Das perfekte Geheimnis".

But then, something happens.

Apart from the overuse of constant music (except "you're somebody else" -> top notch!) The script loses it. It feels like an entirely different movie in the second half.

The characters don't match anymore, so much is rushed, it tries way too hard to be funny even though a constant in dramatic tone would have done the movie good and the ending is honestly rubbish.

Feels like a studio wanted to force the 90 minute mark so hard that they had the director wrap it all up as fast as he could, whatever the price. And the price is a much higher rating.

Overall, Nay and Kalenberg save this flick.

Would love to see more of them in the future.

Well you probably won't ask too many questions and if you can't suspend your disbelief and get behind the idea of the movie ... and its characters, you may have issues staying interested throughout. That being said, the movie has some neat ideas and twists throughout.

Not everything works drama wise I'd say and you may feel more annoyed than connected with the people involved. But the movie does a decent job overall to explore all the relationships and the impact intense and intimate connections can have ... and what they mean for the future. Not great, but not a bad movie overall and quite well acted too.

I loved this movie. It has some very funny scenes and every character has their own charm. It's a very engaging comedy and I sincerely hope that Netflix keeps producing German movies like this.

Oh, and Jonas Nay is amazing as always.

Promising beginning and middle, but a very disappointing ending. Just riddle me this - why or, rather, how, was she throwing up, if you watched the film to the end?.. Does not make sense.

Ditto with the sleeping pills. How is this review too short? Ok, here are more letters. And more. Still not enough letters?.. Good acting, good premise, disappointing ending as, a the result, a disappointing movie.

Promising beginning and middle, but a very disappointing ending. Just riddle me this - why or, rather, how, was she throwing up, if you watched the film to the end?.. Does not make sense.

Ditto with the sleeping pills. How is this review too short? Ok, here are more letters. And more. Still not enough letters?.. Good acting, good premise, disappointing ending as, a the result, a disappointing movie.