Nackte Tiere
Director: Melanie Waelde
Writer: Melanie Waelde
Cast: Marie Tragousti, Sammy Scheuritzel, Michelangelo Fortuzzi, Paul Michael Stiehler, Luna Baptiste Schaller
Part of: Viennale
Seen on: 29.10.2020

Plot:
Katja (Marie Tragousti), Benni (Michelangelo Fortuzzi), Schöller (Paul Michael Stiehler), Laila (Luna Baptiste Schaller) and Sascha (Sammy Scheuritzel) are about to finish school together, not really knowing what comes afterwards. They take care of each other, they fight – Katja and Sascha often physically as they both do judo – and mostly they are on their own, relying completely on each other.

Nackte Tiere worked for the most part for me. It took me a while to get into the film and the ending ran a little long, but the characters and the way they are set up was very interesting.

It took me a while to find my footing with the film. Mostly because I didn’t understand how the characters related to each other and what their situation was. For example, they all hang out in an (adult-less) apartment and I don’t know how long it took until I understood whose apartment it is and who really stays there.

That being said, a bit of confusion can be handled and there was even a certain intrigue to it. The film wouldn’t have needed that intrigue, though, because those kids are plenty interesting without it. Here is a vision of what it’s like being a teenager that is absolutely unlike the usual teenage movies we get.

The actors here were also really strong, with Marie Tragousti and Sammy Scheuritzel particular standouts. Although this might just be because the dynamic between Katja and Sascha was particularly interesting to me, and also, obviously, to the film.

The film could have used a bit more plot and getting a tad quicker to the end, but most of it worked very well for me and I remained engaged throughout. I may not have loved it completely, but I did like it a whole lot.

Summarizing: Good.