Madeline Miller: "The Song of Achilles"

(novel) 

Rating: 4.5/5

Achilles, son of a king and a goddess, is bursting with strength and charm and meets Patroclus, a young prince sent into exile, in his childhood. A special bond of friendship and love is forged between the two, which brings them ever closer together over the years.

The theft of Helen triggers a war between Greece and Troy, and all the heroes and their armies are called upon to join the battle. Achilles also makes the fateful decision to go to Troy as the "greatest of all Greeks" and take part in the campaign against the city.

This battle turns into a decades-long conflict and the love of Patroclus and Achilles will be confronted with the serious challenges of fate in Troy, which will require hard sacrifices...

The myth of Achilles is retold and both the legend and its characters are given a human, modern and approachable guise. The author manages to convey the extensive material in a captivating and extremely entertaining way and to create an emotional, multi-faceted story whose drama culminates in the Trojan War.

"All of Us Strangers"

(Melodrama) 

Rating: 4.5/5 

The lonely author Adam enters into a romantic relationship with the mysterious Harry. At the same time, visions and dreams of his deceased parents begin to haunt him. As the boundaries between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred, Adam has to reconcile the traumas of his childhood with his present life and, above all, his aspirations for the future.

"All of Us Strangers" is an emotional and tragic character study that offers an intimate and authentic insight into the lives of its characters and the nature of grief. While the film explicitly deals with queer hostility in 1980s England, its surreal mood creates a timeless character that makes it a true masterpiece.

Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are unsurprisingly brilliant in the roles of Adam and Harry, proving once again why they are among the absolute best actors of our time. An outstanding work of art that should definitely not be missed.

"The Zone of Interest" 

(historical movie) 

Rating: 4.5/5

Director Jonathan Glazer almost completely dispenses with a conventional narrative and instead depicts the everyday life of Rudolf Höss, who was commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1943. However, the scene is never the inside of the camp itself, but the house of the Höß family located directly outside the walls.

While millions of people are systematically murdered just a few meters away, birthday parties, hiking excursions and summer festivals take place here. Or Höß sits in his office and talks to colleagues about the efficiency and logistics behind gas chambers, the expense of transporting prisoners and the financial profitability of concentration camps.

All of this is done with an 'unspectacular' and  bureaucratic coldness and constant indifference that shakes you to the core. Glazer attempts to demystify the Nazi crimes and instead presents the "banality of evil" coined by Hannah Arendt.

A cinematically and thematically impressive and terrifying look at the forced maintenance of 'normality' in the face of the worst crimes against humanity. A view that could not be more important right now.

Anna Wiener: "Code broken. Power and decadence in Silicon Valley" 

(novel) 

Rating: 3/5

"Technology ate into relationships, identities, commons. Maybe nostalgia was just an instinctive reaction to the feeling that the material was disappearing from the world. I wanted to find my own way to protect myself from it, I wanted to find my own form of collective."

Silicon Valley, the cradle of the world's largest tech companies and a symbol par excellence of technological progress and cutting-edge software solutions designed to make life better in every area, from transportation to interpersonal relationships. This is where the protagonist of Wiener's autobiographical novel ends up after years of struggling through the underpaid New York publishing industry.

In San Francisco, she gets caught up in the maelstrom of the start-up hype that prevails there. In a world of horrendous working hours, abstruse office spaces, multi-million dollar investments and omnipresent company logos, she finds her place, although she always has the feeling that she doesn't really belong among all the young and successful tech gurus.

The young woman's experiences in Silicon Valley are elegantly linked with the image of an entire male-dominated, progress-focused industry, and topics such as sexism, idealism and the digital utopia (and its dark sides) are brought into focus.

"The allure of the new evaporated; the ubiquitous idealism of the industry became increasingly dubious. For the most part, the tech industry was not about progress. It was about business."

A successful novel that shows that the propagated idea of a digital and carefree future is sometimes far removed from the reality in Silicon Valley. Linguistically, the author works skillfully with expressive images and manages to bring a certain lightness and self-irony to the novel despite the topics covered. Nevertheless, "Code kaputt" does offer deeper potential at one point or another, which is not fully exploited.

"Fleabag" 

(Dramedy)

Rating: 4.5/5

"I want someone to tell me what to wear every morning. I want someone to tell me what to eat. What to like, what to hate, what to rage about. What to listen to, what band to like. What to buy tickets for. What to joke about, what to not joke about. I want someone to tell me what to believe in. Who to vote for and who to love and how to tell them..."

As a viewer, the series follows the turbulent life of an unnamed woman affectionately known as "Fleabag". She leads a chaotic life in London, juggling complicated family relationships, friendships and romantic encounters...

The Amazon Prime series is distinguished by its clever and often blackly humorous approach to everyday situations. In addition, "Fleabag" sheds light on themes such as loss, grief, loneliness, self-discovery, love and the difficulties associated with human relationships.

Thus, "Fleabag" succeeds in combining sharp humor, emotional depth and an honest portrayal of human weaknesses. As the protagonist tries to come to terms with her past and personal losses, she simultaneously deals with her own flaws and challenges in finding her place in the world.

"... I think I just want someone to tell me how to live my life, Father, because so far I think I've been getting it wrong."

"Past Lives"

(Drama) 

Rating: 3/5

A love story that isn't really a love story at all. Nora and Hae Sung have been attracted to each other their entire lives, but are repeatedly separated. Be it due to relocation, their jobs or simply different paths in life. And even when they meet, the question remains: is it really love that draws them to each other?

What sounds like a lot of kitsch at first - and seems that way in the trailer - looks very different in the actual film. In her debut film, young filmmaker Celine Song not only skilfully and clearly avoids clichés, but also directly addresses and rejects them. What remains instead is a multi-layered and charming film that offers a captivating story and atmosphere despite its lengthiness.

Joyce Carol Oates: "Blonde"

(novel) 

Rating: 4.5/5

Marilyn Monroe - blonde hair, red lips, birthmark and high-waisted skirt. But who is Norma Jeane really?

Author Joyce Carol Oates portrays the life of the "blonde actress" in her 1022-page novel.

From Norma Jeane to Marilyn Monroe, from childhood to adulthood, from anonymity to global stardom. A life characterized by countless ups and downs from the very beginning.

The novel takes place in the uncomfortable beds in the children's home, in the far too hot bath water of her mentally ill mother, with her numerous and sometimes brutal husbands, in the bedrooms of her affairs and on the sets of major films. She is abused as a child and repeatedly raped, beaten and exploited as a young woman. Over the course of her life, she struggles with self-doubt, addiction problems and, above all, the experience of living in a patriarchal world.

She is intelligent, reads the works of numerous philosophers and yet is underestimated and considered stupid. She is a perfectionist and acts so well that her mostly male colleagues are convinced that she is not acting at all, but that she really is. She is sometimes Norma Jeane and sometimes Marylin Monroe - until at some point she can no longer be either.

Oates manages to make the Hollywood idol approachable for the reader and capture what she is really like on the inside. So believable that you have to keep reminding yourself that this is not a biography of Marilyn Monroe, but that reality and fiction are combined beyond recognition in this novel.

"Blond" is extremely varied and exciting, particularly due to the constant change in different first-person narrators, the vivid portrayal of her entire life, the authentic depiction of a wide range of experiences and the introduction of the most diverse people in Marilyn Monroe's life.

The author's unconventional, intelligent and sometimes brutal style captivates the reader. Even if the last part  of the novel drags a little, as the events seem to repeat themselves, and Joyce Carol Oates' writing style is quite confused in places because she jumps wildly between individual thoughts, this book is a clear recommendation  - whether for Marilyn Monroe fans or not.

"The Teachers' Room" (Dir.: Ilker Çatak)

(Drama/Film)

Rating: 4/5 

About the everyday life of a teacher who wants to do everything right & yet can do so much wrong.

From the first second of the film, the viewer finds himself in the middle of the action: Two schoolchildren are pressured by their  teachers to betray their classmates. Because at the school is stolen & nobody knows the true perpetrators. In her search for the truth & and, above all, for justice, the still young teacher Carla Nowak herself ends up in the line of fire of the accusations, so that in the further course of the escalating plot she is in danger of breaking down in the balancing act of meeting the demands of the students, the classmates& and the parents.

Apart from the fact that the quite extreme everyday life of a teacher is brought into focus - which is characterized by various conflict situations, a very high workload & and finally even panic attacks - topics such as everyday racism, classism & mobbing are repeatedly & taken up rather implicitly.

Why is Ali of all people - a boy with an immigrant background - suspected? Why does it matter what his parents do for a living? Should the grade report still be written on the board? Is a statement really voluntary if silence leads directly to suspicion?

Precisely because of the acting performance of Leonie Benesch (The Swarm),  the unusual picture format (4:3), the focus on one location (school) and one character perspective (Carla Nowak), the thoroughly socio-critical film captivates you from the very first second and leaves you above all with the feeling that teachers à la Carla Nowak deserve a great deal of respect.

Douglas Adams: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (novel / sci-fi) 

(Novel / Sci-Fi)

Rating: 5/5 

"What would you do if you were manic-depressive robots? Nono, don't even try to answer that. I'm fifty thousand times more intelligent than you, and even I don't know the answer."

When the day starts with you having to lie down in the mud in front of your house in front of a bulldozer so it doesn't get demolished, it really can't get any worse. Actually... because that's when the earth gets blown up.

For Arthur Dent thereupon begins an adventurous journey through the galaxy, where one bizarre surprise hunts the next, and in the world of the former earth citizen some enormously durch-wirbelt. Mice as the secret world rulers, the bad (almost dangerous) poetry of the Vogons and a manic-depressive robot named Marvin as a travel companion - to name just a few curiosities from Arthur's new reality.

If you like bizarre and offbeat humor, you'll get your money's worth with this sci-fi classic. Entertaining, grotesque (in a positive way) and just plain good.

"There are, of course, many problems connected with life; of these, some of the best known are Why is man born?, Why does he die? And Why does he spend so much of the time in between wearing digital watches?"

Benedict Wells, "From the End of Solitude" 

(Novel / Fiction)

Rating: 4.5/5 

"Later, together with our aunt, we decorated the living room, chansons were playing on the radio, and for a moment it was like before, except that two people were missing. It was like the old days, except nothing was the same."

Jules, Liz and Marty - even though there are often arguments between them, they grow up sheltered with their parents in Munich. The family spends their vacations in Berdillac - a small village near Montpellier and the hometown of the father of the family. And it is there, during a family vacation, that the parents of the three siblings are killed in a car accident.

"This is all like a seed. The boarding school, the school, what happened to my parents. It's all sown in me, but I can't see what it makes of me. Only when I'm an adult will the harvest come, and then it will be too late."

After the loss of their parents, the three vastly different siblings grow further and further apart in their new boarding school - all dealing with their grief in different ways - finding connection or not. Jules, meanwhile, gets to know Alva and a friendship develops between them that evolves in different directions throughout the novel.

As a reader, you follow Jules' story from his early childhood, the accident of his parents, until his late forties, showing, also in the lives of his siblings, how the blow of fate they thought they had overcome catches up with them again and again and influences and guides them in their lives, actions and deeds.

"A difficult childhood is like an invisible enemy, I thought. You never know when he's going to strike."

Benedict Wells creates an incredibly quiet, at times poetic, yet so poignant novel that, even without much fanfare, many plot twists, and with great language style, proves to be a real page-turner.

The story of Jules - his relationship with Alva, who in a way shares his grief, the coming together and drifting away between him and his siblings while the loss of his parents is omnipresent - is at once moving, touching and captivating.

"Life is not a zero-sum game. It owes you nothing, and things happen as they happen. Sometimes justly, so that everything makes sense, sometimes so unjustly that you doubt everything. I pulled the mask off fate's face and found only chance underneath."

Yōko Ogawa: "Island of Lost Memory"

(Novel / Dystopia / Science Fiction)

Rating: 3.5/5

Perfume, birds, and roses are just a handful of the things that disappear first from the island and then permanently from the memory of its inhabitants:inside - as if erased, nothing remains to remind them of their former existence. Only a few cannot forget and are therefore pursued by the memory police.

Although this puts her life in danger, a young writer offers protection to her publisher when she finds out that he is threatened with arrest by the memory police. Determined, she sets up a hideout in her home with the help of an elderly gentleman, cares for and looks after her publisher, and continues to work with him on her latest novel, bringing them ever closer.

While the synopsis suggests a gripping novel with ups and downs, the plot rather ripples along - one waits in vain for a rebellion. Thus, some things remain unclear and open to interpretation for the reader.

Thus, the novel cannot convince with a large and captivating plot. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and language created by Yōko Ogawa make it a good book for in between.

Isabel Bogdan: "The Peacock"

(Novel/ Comedy)

Rating: 5/5 

What do you get when you put a group of investment bankers, an ambitious psychologist, and a peacock gone mad paired with a sudden onset of winter in a time-honored Scottish country estate far off in the Highlands? A terrific, hilarious chain of events, misunderstandings & social phenomena.

"The Peacock" is a turbulent and very entertaining story that tells the (somewhat different) team-building exercise with British humor. Isabel Bogdan creates great characters who convince with their wit and stubbornness. Readers are sucked into this maelstrom of events & at the end really no one knows what happened at all... Entertaining, British comedy that definitely makes you laugh!

"Aftersun"

(Drama/Coming of Age)

Rating: 5/5

Eleven-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) goes on vacation with her father Callum (Paul Mescal) and records the trip with a video camera. 20 years later, she reflects on this time together with the help of the footage and gets to know her father from a whole new perspective.

"Aftersun" deals in a unique and incredibly emotional way with the relationship between children and their parents and the different ways in which people remember the deceased. The film never has to resort to cheap tricks of emotionalization, but convinces with its inconceivable and in parts brutal honesty and ruthlessness.

The film presents itself for a large part of the running time only in the form of amateurish video footage of Sophie, which provides for a simultaneously nostalgic and unreal look that fits perfectly with the rest of the film.

Paul Mescal in particular knows how to shine in the role of Callum, lending the character an inimitable charm as well as a deep vulnerability. A performance that will go down in film history as a masterpiece, just like the entire film.

Coco Mellors: "Cleopatra and Frankenstein"

(Novel / Fiction)

Rating: 4,5/5

At 24, artist and English-born Cleo is now living in New York. Shortly before her student visa expires, she meets Frank, a successful advertising executive twenty years her senior. The two marry - completely impulsively. Cleo is able to stay in New York and devote herself entirely to painting. At this point, no one suspects the extent to which this will change the lives not only of the two protagonists, but also of the people around them.

Depression, alcohol and drug abuse, toxic relationships and suicide - these are some of the topics Mellors deals with in her novel. Each chapter is written from a different perspective, either from Cleo's, Frank's, or their acquaintances, friends, and family members, giving the reader an intense insight into the characters' desires, hopes, and fears.

The story of the novel is mainly character-focused - there is no big and recognizable arc of suspense or a string of exciting happenings. The reader is shown what happens to Cleo and Frank, as well as their companions, after the possibly hasty wedding. At the same time, however, the author manages to create real characters and the story that goes with them.

In addition to the serious themes, amusing moments also creep into the story.

Especially the last sentences of each chapter are carefully chosen and summarize the past or the coming - sometimes humorously.

Taylor Jenkins Reid: "Daisy Jones & The Six"

(Novel / Historical Fiction)

Rating: 4/5 

"Daisy and Billy had something that no one else had. And when they pushed themselves, when they really committed to each other ... That's what made us big. That was one of those moments where you think, the talent from those two is all worth the bullshit." Daisy Jones, young, attractive and actually a solo singer, joins the  rock band "The Six" in the mid-seventies.

Besides talent, it's the chemistry between her and frontman Billy Dunne that captivates audiences at their performances, giving the band their big break.

There's no question that Daisy and Billy are alike.... perhaps too much so. And despite this undoubted connection between the lead singer:s, their backstage relationship is a game of fire. "I think people who are too similar ... don't get along well"

"They were ... Billy and Daisy together, it was like having to watch out for a little fire. If it stayed under control, it was all good, but you had to constantly watch it to make sure no kerosene got on it." Set in the U.S. of the 1970s, "Daisy Jones & The Six" delivers the story of a rock band à la Fleetwood Mac.

The feeling of the wild seventies with all the ups and downs - sex, drugs & rock'n & roll - is palpable throughout the reading and gives the novel something very special and that certain credibility.

What makes the book unusual is that it is written entirely in interview style and thus the band, as well as their entire entourage, tell the story themselves, which gives the reader:in exciting insights into the different perceptions of the characters. With the unusual presentation of the novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid succeeds in creating a veritable reading pull that firstly makes it almost impossible to put the book down and secondly keeps you asking whether "Daisy Jones & The Six" is a real story. Additionally, the novel captivates with strong and inspiring female characters.

"I had absolutely no interest in being anyone's muse.

I'm not the muse.

I'm the somebody.

Period."

Alois Prinz: "The Life of Simone de Beauvoir"

(Biography)

Rating: 4/5 

In this biography, Alois Prinz tells the life story of writer, feminist, and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir: from her beginnings as a religious "daughter from a good home," to her path as a teacher, to her lifelong association with Jean-Paul Sartre. A life story marked by the struggle against norms and prejudices - and the constant striving for freedom.

Through the biography, in particular, a successful first encounter with Simone de Beauvoir can take place, as the work approaches her life in a well-structured and not too information overloaded way. Interesting and deeper insights into the life and thinking of the writer are provided. Interwoven with this life story is simultaneously that of Jean-Paul Sartre, who is vividly described and extremely present in the book - as is existentialism as a philosophical current that connects the two.

"The Banshees of Inisherin"

(Historical Tragicomedy)

Rating: 4/5

In the midst of the Irish Civil War of 1923, musician Colm (Brendan Gleeson), frustrated by his longtime friend Padraic's (Colin Farell) simple-minded ways, suddenly terminates his friendship and threatens to cut off his own fingers should Padraic attempt to contact him further. What at first seems like a most strange and confusing premise for a story very quickly leads to one of the funniest, most intimate, and at the same time most tragic films of the year. The way Colm and Padraic's relationship with each other, as well as with their home and the other people there, is highly involving and emotional throughout the entire length of the plot. Even the most abstruse characters and actions - such as cutting off their own fingers - are deeply human and believable, giving the entire film a very unique charm. This is also helped by the setting of a small Irish island, which is compelling with the beauty of its green pastures, mountains and coastline. Also, all facets of the production itself, from acting to directing to music are absolutely fantastic. It's hardly surprising, then, that "The Banshees of Inisherin" is one of the biggest favorites at this year's Academy Awards, with a total of nine nominations, and the wonderful performances by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in the lead roles especially deserving of special praise. 

"Clark"

(Miniseries, Netflix)

Rating: 4/5 

"After Truths and Lies."

Narcissistic, sex addict, criminal and probably Sweden's first celebrity gangster:

Clark Olofsson never had time for a real job, after all, that's where you miss all the fun. For this reason, he specialized in robbing banks at an early age. The Swedish miniseries by director Jonas Åkerlund depicts a period of Clark Olofsson's life within six episodes, which later gave rise to the term "Stockholm Syndrome".

The typical depiction of a criminal portrait is omitted. Instead, one gets as a viewer:into a cheerful, humorous and partly exaggerated representation of the (alleged) facts. For example, there is a lot of play with color, sound, voice-overs and also animation. Likewise, the images from Clark's current life, which mainly consists of bank robberies, prison escapes and women, are repeatedly supplemented with flashbacks from his childhood, marked by an alcoholic and violent father.

"Clark" succeeds in presenting the story of the criminal in an uninterruptedly exciting and unusual way. In addition, especially Bill Skarsgård, who recently convinced as Pennywise in "It", can score with his acting talent.

Tom Barbash: "My Father, John Lennon and the Best Year of Our Lives"

(novel)

Rating: 4/5

New York City, 1979

Show business is booming. In the midst of it all, famous late-night show host Buddy Winter suffers a nervous breakdown on camera. Now his career has to be revived, and his son Anton is supposed to support him in this. Together they want to get the talk show legend back on his feet, and no one less than neighbor and friend John Lennon could help. A Beatles comeback on Buddy's new show would be the breakthrough. But the more Anton becomes involved in his father's path, the more he questions his own. About family, career and failure.

Tom Barbash creates a complex and interesting father-son relationship, set amidst the thriving television business. Real-life characters are added to the plot with wit and levity, adding a pleasant sense of confusion and verisimilitude to the book. The story is told from the perspective of 23-year-old Anton, whom the novel accompanies not only in his attempt to bring his father back to TV, but also in his own identity development.

"The Menu"

(Black Comedy/Thriller) 

Rating: 2/5

A famous chef (Ralph Fiennes) invites a group of pretentious snobs (including Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicolas Hoult) to his restaurant on a deserted island. There he has prepared an elaborate and lengthy menu that soon causes shock and despair among the guests. While the film can still convince at the beginning with its exciting premise, the great direction and the excellent cast, this construct falls apart more and more as it progresses. The background of the story and the motivations of the characters remain too vague, which is why the resolution of the treated mystery can not develop any effect and rather provides for shoulder shrugging. The whole thing is wrapped up in a satirical framework, which is also not very convincing. The topics dealt with are too obvious, but at the same time they are approached with far too little determination. Nevertheless, the film remains entertaining due to the great actors and actresses and an eccentric humor.

Lea Kampe: "The Angel of Warsaw"

(Historical novel)

Rating: 5/5

Irena Sendler - She risked her life to save the children."

A book based on a true incident, reproducing probably one of the most courageous rescue operations of that time: A social worker named Irena Sendler makes it her mission to smuggle children out of the Nazi-built Warsaw Ghetto

 by the Nazis. In the process, she is able to save a total of 2,500 Jewish children from certain death. Lea Kampe hits the right writing style for such a sensitive subject. She sticks to historical facts for the most part and fills in the gaps with fiction without becoming implausible or pathetic. In an impressive, touching and yet clear way, she portrays in the novel not only Irena and her helper:s, but also National Socialists who plan unbelievable crimes in their dialogues that sound so casual. A book against forgetting and for the memory of such hero:in stories, which perhaps needs a few chapters, but then pulls you under its spell. "Ten Steps. Twenty. The doors swung open. Ten steps. Twenty. The first corner of the house, then the second. It was done. [...] That was June 1, 1942. The baby in her pocket was now called Helena, and today his new life began."

Kate Elizabeth Russell: "My Dark Vanessa"

(novel)

Rating: 5/5 

#metoo

At fifteen, Vanessa sleeps with her English teacher for the first time. At that moment, she is certain that he is the only person who truly understands her.

Years later, Jacob Strane is accused of sexual abuse by another former student, who asks Vanessa for her support.

But Vanessa remains certain: in her case, it was love!

... Or?

As readers, we follow Vanessa as she gets to the bottom of her relationship with Strane. The novel jumps between Vanessa's school days and the accusations against the English teacher about seventeen years later, whereby Vanessa's reinterpretation and repression of the actual events is impressively portrayed.

Vanessa persists: she is not a victim!

"My Dark Vanessa" is a significant, unforgettable but also grueling and disturbing novel, with painful descriptions that must definitely be preceded by a trigger warning. The narrative pull Kate Elizabeth Russell creates within her debut novel is gigantic.

Tove Ditlevsen: "Childhood"

(novel)

Rating: 5/5 

In "Childhood", Tove Ditlevsen tells about growing up in 1920s Copenhagen. The family lives in simple circumstances and the young girl doesn't seem to fit in properly. Neither in the family with the aloof mother and the father who loses his job, nor in school and with the other children. She has her very own ideas about life, sinks into the world of books and dreams of leaving the path that is laid out for her.

With her novel, Tove Ditlevsen expressively paints the picture of a childhood full of worry and fear, which is touching and brought to life by a clear and at the same time overwhelming language in the present day - about 50 years after the publication of the Danish original. 

"Someday I want to write down all the words that flow through me. Someday other people will read them in a book and marvel that a girl could become a poet after all."

"A Thousand Lines"

(Drama/Media Satire)

Rating: 3.5/5 

Based on a true incident, two journalists meet:

One writes a thousand lines of lies and everyone wants to read them, the other is on the trail of the truth but no one wants to hear it.

When a journalist writes that he accompanied private border guards shooting at refugees, it's true...isn't it?

This is exactly the question Bully Herbig explores in his latest film & referring to a true incident: 2018 - Reporter Juan Moreno exposes one of Germany's biggest jour­na­lis­ti­tical media lies. The award-winning reporter Claas Relotius lied in his articles for Der Spiegel or even completely invented them.

In "Tausend Zeilen," journalistic truth-checking is consequently inevitably addressed, but not necessarily treated in greater depth. Instead, the reporter's family history comes into focus a bit too much.

On the other hand, the film is visually strongly staged: The different variations of the lying stories are presented in impressive repetition sequences and the 4th wall is broken by the actor:s addressing the audience directly, while the rest of the scenery often stands still in a frozen moment. The film thus tells a story worth watching in an aesthetic way.

"Amsterdam"

(Historical Crime Film)

Rating: 1,5/5 

A doctor, a lawyer and an artist have to solve the murder of an old general and come across a fascist conspiracy trying to overthrow the president of the USA.

A thoroughly entertaining film in parts, but it lives mainly on its fantastic cast full of acting greats. The story often lacks focus, the dramatic moments fall mostly flat, and even the humor seems rather awkward and misplaced most of the time. Without the main cast around Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie, who manage to portray their characters credibly and really breathe life into them, "Amsterdam" would probably be a failure all along the line.

Susanna Clarke: "Piranesi"

(Mystery/Fantasy)

Rating: 4,5/5

An ocean on the first floor, a sky in the attic, endless mystical spaces in between that Piranesi and "the Other" explore. One day, however, Piranesi encounters another person, shaking his assumptions and beliefs about the house, the Other, and thus the only world he knows.

"The Watcher"

(Miniseries, Netflix)

Rating: 4/5 

With hopes of a safer environment, the Brannock family flees New York for the suburb of Westfield, investing their entire life savings in an admirable home.  But the longed-for idyll fails to materialize here as well:

Instead, neighborhood quarrels ensue, which are triggered primarily by the anonymous letters of the "Watcher".  With these, the mysterious events in the house also accumulate, which put family life to the test and within it for mistrust, fear and panic.

The miniseries, which can be classified in the genres of mystery, thriller and also horror, succeeds in maintaining the tension over seven episodes.

Fear, despair and anger, which arise from the fact that the enemy is prowling around in your own four walls, while remaining invisible and therefore intangible, is conveyed credibly, which is why you as a viewer:in tied to the story and literally drawn into the story.

"Simply something beautiful"

(Romantic Comedy)

Rating: 4,5/5 

Karla, 39, single: I have decided to have a child.

Father: Do you have a boyfriend now?

Karla: Uh, no, I'm doing it alone.

After "Wunderschön," Karoline Herfurth once again succeeds in giving relevant topics & a spotlight, especially on women.

It quickly becomes clear that this is not a classic romantic comedy: In addition to a somewhat different love story & really funny scenes, it also shows in particular unvarnished truths with depth.

So it is about the desire for a child & the ticking of the biological clock, about classic family models & getting pregnant alone, difficult parent-child relationships & sibling relationships, social conventions & dealing with them, it is about life dreams & especially about the bursting of these.

The film can - despite typical RomCom cliché passages - make you laugh, cry & think & shows quite courageously that real life is often not like in the movies.

"Cruel Summer"

(Amazon Prime, thriller series) 

Rating: 4/5 

An innovative game with victim- & perpetrator role: A teenager disappears & a schoolgirl is not supposed to have saved her. A familiar story, but told in an original way & which is precisely why it is so good: Again and again, the storyline jumps to three different years & in different narrative perspectives, so that the viewer:inside only gradually receives all the pieces of the puzzle & the tension is maintained until the last second.

"Chloe"

(Amazon Prime, psychological thriller series)

Rating: 4.5/5

Between the search for truth & inventing new lies: To find out why Chloe killed herself,   Becky begins a double life. What happened to Chloe? This question never leaves Becky's mind. Through her quite clever, but dark nature, she therefore gradually takes over the lives of the dead and loses herself more and more often in her own masquerade. A captivating series that manages to make you classify the protagonist as insane one moment & only to watch her with complete fascination shortly thereafter.

Sally Rooney: "Beautiful World, Where Are You?"

(novel)

Rating: 2.5/5

Alice & Felix, Eileen & Simon - two couples in their mid-twenties, early thirties grapple with issues of love, sexuality, and social inequality, and question their current lives during a general search for meaning, creating a supposed bond between them. Unlike Rooney's other novels, the characters and dialogue here lack depth, making the relationships portrayed seem intangible.

Cho Nam-Joo: "Kim-Jiyoung, Born 1982"

(novel) 

Rating: 4/5

A feminist novel, which describes everyday scenes from Kim-Jiyoung's life within four epoch sections, in which young girls and women can find themselves and thus quickly forget the fictionality of the novel.