Category Archives: crime

Thoroughbreds (2017)

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Thoroughbreds
Director: Cory Finley
Writer: Cory Finley
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, Francie Swift, Kaili Vernoff
Seen on: 14.3.2021

Content Note: ableism/saneism

Plot:
Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Olivia Cooke) used to be friends when they were children, but they haven’t seen each other in a long time. Now Amanda’s mother has asked Lily to hang out with her again since Amanda got quite a reputation after an incident with her horse. And Amanda is weird, no doubt about it. But despite initial awkwardness, they bond over their mutual dislike for Lily’s stepdad Mark (Paul Sparks) – which leads to a plan that could solve their problem.

Thoroughbreds has excellent performances and a good sense of style, but also an ending that ruined the film for me, unfortunately.

The film poster showing Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Olivia Cooke) sitting as far away from each other as possible on a white couch in a white room wearing white and gray.
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Ich oder du (1984)

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Ich oder du [literally: I or You]
Director: Dieter Berner
Writer: Dieter Berner, Peter Mazzuchelli
Cast: Beate Finckh, Hansi Lang, Karl Kröpfl, Johannes Weidinger, Wolfgang Ambros, Hilde Berger, Bobby Prem, Helmut Vinaccia, Rainer Egger
Seen on: 7.2.2021

Content Note: domestic violence, abuse

Plot:
Christina (Beate Finckh) is dating Robert (Hansi Lang), a singer of local renoun. But he is volatile – addicted to drugs and prone to violence. It seems to come as no surprise that Christina feels also drawn to Franz (Karl Kröpfl) who appears Robert’s opposite in every way: a young farmer to Robert’s city flair, he is much more grounded. Franz is also smitten with Christina. But whether Robert and Christina can give each other up so easily is a different question.

Ich oder du is an exhausting film that seems mostly built around Hansi Lang (a rather famous-at-the-time-and-place musician) and his star appeal – and I have to say that he didn’t appeal all that much to me, and so the film did neither.

The film poster showing Robert (Hansi Lang) and several film stills arranged like the photos from a photobooth.
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Nur eine Frau [A Regular Woman] (2019)

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Nur eine Frau
Director: Sherry Hormann
Writer: Florian Öller
Based on: Matthias Deiß and Jo Goll’s book Ehrenmord: Ein deutsches Schicksal about the murder of Aynur Sürücü
Cast: Almila Bagriacik, Rauand Taleb, Aram Arami, Meral Perin, Mürtüz Yolcu, Armin Wahedi Yeganeh, Jacob Matschenz, Merve Aksoy, Mehmet Atesci
Seen on: 16.5.2019

Plot:
Aynur (Almila Bagriacik) is only a teenager when she is married to a man she barely knows in Turkey. When he turns out to be abusive, she escapes and returns to her parents (Meral Perin, Mürtüz Yolcu) in Germany. But her parents aren’t happy with Aynur’s actions. As Aynur attempts to build a new life for herself and her child, the relationship with her parents and her brothers remain very tense.

Nur eine Frau is a well-made, sometimes a little over-directed film that tells an interesting story and tells it well.

The film poster showing Aynur (Almila Bagriacik) in red and black.
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