Toni Erdmann
Directed by Maren Ade
- comedy
- drama
The story
Convinced that his daughter has forgotten how to laugh, a father shows up unannounced while she's living abroad and bombards her with outrageous jokes.
What it’s like
Long, patient static takes hold ordinary rooms in flat, natural light: office corridors in Bucharest with cool fluorescent glare, hotel lobbies, a birthday table lit by warm lamps, and the quiet grey of a German suburb in winter. The camera rarely moves, so awkwardness gets room to breathe and the frame becomes a stage for a father's pointed absurdity against a daughter's polished, airless composure. Its vibe is dry, deadpan and quietly melancholic, with sudden bursts of cringe comedy that lean toward the uncomfortable. The rhythm is unhurried, with scenes running past their natural endings, and the emotional register shifts between wincing humour and grief, following a rigid, overworked woman slowly loosening up beside a father who keeps insisting on play. The intensity is moderate and mostly verbal: there is sexual awkwardness, including a nude scene and a sexually explicit moment, plus a funeral-tinged thread about death and loss, but no real violence and little overt menace. It suits a slow weekday evening or a thoughtful night in, and it is for viewers who enjoy uncomfortable comedy, patient character studies, and films where feeling sits under the jokes.
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