Dir: Mascha Schilinski, Germany, 155 mins, 2025
Cast: Hannah Heckt, Lena Urzendowsky, Lea Drinda, Laeni Geiseler
Review by Carlie Newman
Telling the story of four young girls who live on a farm in the north of Germany.. we see each of them in different periods of time. There’s Alma in the 1910s, Erica in the 1940s. Angelica in the 1980s and Lena in the 2020s.
Separated by time, but living in the same house, echoes of the past affect each of the girls. It’s as though the ghosts of the past affect the present time of each girl. And each of the girls is haunted by death.
Alma (Hannah Heckt) is a child, the youngest of the four girls in the movie. She listens to her older brother, Fritz (Filip Schnack) who constantly moans in his room as he suffers from his amputated leg. Then Erica (who is a teenager and imitates her uncle, Fritz (Martin Rother) who is bedridden with his amputated leg. Erica binds one leg up and hobbles with crutches. After World War II, we find Angelica (Lena Urzendowsky) living in the GDR in the 80s. She is a sexy teenager and teases men. Lastly, we meet Lena (Laeni Geiseler) a young girl who is friendly with the glamorous but depressed Kaya (Ninel Geiger).
The film is all about time, but the difficulty is that we don’t always know what time period we are dealing with and exactly what is going on with the characters and their relationship with those around them.
There is good sound and fine photography, but the confusion, over time and characters is overpowering.
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