17-year-old Paul likes strange things: stealth trails and abandoned buildings, whispered conversations and left-behind bags. Besides that, he seems to be a young man without qualities. His mysterious nature catches the eyes of his classmate Dala and his art-loving teacher Mr. Bulwer, both seemingly driven by hidden desires. Then a boy’s dead body is discovered in the forest...
Direction
Schäfer's clinical framing turns bodies into specimens
Cinematography
Forests shot like crime scenes, rooms like autopsy tables
Director
Christian Schäfer
Jonas Holdenrieder
Paul Nebe
Devid Striesow
Erich Bulwer
Valerie Stoll
Dala Brünne
Peter Jordan
Per-Ulrich Nebe
Claudia Geisler-Bading
Sylvia Nebe
Max Schimmelpfennig
Max Gunthermann
Aurel Klug
Silas Nebe
Oliver Nägele
Headmaster Kupferschlag
Sascha Nathan
Chief Inspector Stöbhaas
Janina Sachau
Mrs. Schatterhain
Moritz Führmann
Falk Ernstmeier
Sybille J. Schedwill
Mrs. Miescher
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Devid Striesow (Bulwer) was already a German arthouse staple, making his casting as 'suspicious mentor' feel meta-commentary on actor-as-pedestal.
The 'gay theme' marketing frustrated critics—Paul's queerness is deliberately unreadable, refusing the comfort of representation for something far more unsettling.
DE
