Berlin Film Festival 2024: Movie Scorecard

Critics Consensus: With a rigorous yet fantastical approach, Mati Diop's Dahomey provocatively uncovers the restitution and repatriation of a stolen legacy, and serves as a powerful statement for decolonization.

Synopsis: From acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics), DAHOMEY is a poetic and immersive work of art that delves into real perspectives on far-reaching issues surrounding appropriation,... View Full Synopsis

Directed By: Mati Diop

Critics Consensus: A tender odyssey with Mzia Arabuli's wonderful performance as the audience's guide, Crossing marks another humanist triumph for writer-director Levan Akin.

Synopsis: From acclaimed director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced), CROSSING is a moving and tender tale of identity, acceptance and unlikely connection that transcends borders... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava, Deniz Dumanli, Deniz Dumanli

Directed By: Levan Akin

Critics Consensus: A squirm-inducing period piece that locates true horror in both mind and spirit, The Devil's Bath might be Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz's most chilling directorial effort yet.

Synopsis: In 1750 Austria, a deeply religious woman named Agnes has just married her beloved, but her mind and heart soon grow heavy as her life... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anja Plaschg, David Scheid, Maria Hofstätter, Natalija Baranova

Directed By: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Fanny, a shy and lonely teenager, goes on a language exchange to Germany. In Leipzig, she meets her pen pal, Lena, a teenager eager to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lilith Grasmug, Josefa Heinsius, Nina Hoss, Chiara Mastroianni

Directed By: Claire Burger

Critics Consensus: Immeasurably elevated by the chemistry between Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman, Between the Temples uses engrossing, character-driven dramedy to explore deeply relatable aspects of the human experience.

Synopsis: In BETWEEN THE TEMPLES, Ben (Jason Schwartzman) is a forty-something cantor losing his voice and possibly his faith. Struggling to meet the expectations of his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane, Dolly De Leon, Caroline Aaron

Directed By: Nathan Silver

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After the one-child policy ends in China, a middle-class family's fate becomes intertwined with their only son's enigmatic new friend. Unspoken secrets, unmet expectations and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Feng Zu, Guo Ke-Yu, Xilun Sun, Muran Lin

Directed By: Jianjie Lin

Critics Consensus: Lust and violence collide to powerfully pulpy effect in Love Lies Bleeding, a well-acted addition to writer-director Rose Glass' growing body of exceptional work.

Synopsis: From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco

Directed By: Rose Glass

Critics Consensus: With a distinctive visual aesthetic that enhances its emotionally resonant narrative, I Saw the TV Glow further establishes writer-director Jane Schoenbrun as a rising talent.

Synopsis: Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show —... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Lindsey Jordan

Directed By: Jane Schoenbrun

Critics Consensus: Surreal and unsettling, A Different Man overcomes an occasionally tenuous narrative grasp by virtue of its bold, provocative approach to serious themes.

Synopsis: Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Miles G. Jackson, Patrick Wang, Neal Davidson

Directed By: Aaron Schimberg

Critics Consensus: Cillian Murphy's outstanding acting anchors Small Things Like These, elevating an occasionally enervating historical drama.

Synopsis: Small Things Like These takes place over Christmas in 1985, when devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) discovers startling secrets kept by... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Clare Dunne

Directed By: Tim Mielants

Critics Consensus: While overlong and certainly heavy-handed in its controlled chaos, Alonso Ruizpalacios' tense direction and a mesmerizing performance from Raúl Briones help to make La Cocina a sharp and savory social critique.

Synopsis: La Cocina captures the frenetic energy of the lunch rush at The Grill, a bustling restaurant in Manhattan's Times Square. When money goes missing from... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Raúl Briones, Rooney Mara, Anna Díaz, Motell Gyn Foster

Directed By: Alonso Ruizpalacios

Critics Consensus: Unfolding at a gentle pace with an even more subdued sense of drama, Janet Planet revolves around Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler's outstanding performances.

Synopsis: In rural Western Massachusetts, 11-year-old Lacy spends the summer of 1991 at home, enthralled by her own imagination and the attention of her mother, Janet.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Julianne Nicholson, Zoe Ziegler, Elias Koteas, Will Patton

Directed By: Annie Baker

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In the jungle of Colombia, Pepe, a young Hippo was killed. Between sounds and bellows, his ghost narrates his story, an authentic and false story,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jhon Narváez, Fareed Matjila, Harmony Ahalwa, Steven Alexander

Directed By: Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias, Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Berlin, 1942: it was the most beautiful summer for Hilde – madly in love with Hans and joyfully pregnant. But amid the passion there is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Liv Lisa Fries, Johannes Hegemann, Lisa Wagner, Emma Bading

Directed By: Andreas Dresen

Critics Consensus: For audiences attuned to the Zellners' utterly unique wavelength, Sasquatch Sunset offers a moving -- if often inscrutable -- look at our relationship with the natural world.

Synopsis: In the misty forests of North America, a family of Sasquatches--possibly the last of their enigmatic kind--embark on an absurdist, epic, hilarious, and ultimately poignant... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner, Christophe Zajac-Denek

Directed By: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner

Critics Consensus: One of director Atom Egoyan's most successful efforts in years and a multidimensional showcase for Amanda Seyfried, Seven Veils dives from the rafters to make an uneven but ultimately insightful landing.

Synopsis: After years away, theater director Jeanine (Academy Award® nominee Amanda Seyfried) re-enters the opera world to stage her former mentor's most famous work. Haunted by... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O'Brien

Directed By: Atom Egoyan

Critics Consensus: Benefiting from Saoirse Ronan's deeply committed performance in the central role, The Outrun proves a moving portrait of addiction in spite of its somewhat shapeless narrative.

Synopsis: Rona, fresh out of rehab, returns to the wild Orkney Islands after more than a decade away. As she reconnects with the dramatic landscape where... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillane, Lauren Lyle

Directed By: Nora Fingscheidt

Critics Consensus: Languid and subtle in form yet explosive in essence, Hong Sang-soo's A Traveler's Needs showcases humanity in all its comedic, awkward, and fluid motions.

Synopsis: A comedy of improbable encounters and unlikely language lessons, A Traveler's Needs marks the third collaboration between Hong and Huppert (following 2012's In Another Country... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Lee Hye-young, Kwon Hae-hyo, Ha Seung-guk

Directed By: Hong Sang-soo

Critics Consensus: Directed with inventive flair by Tilman Singer while given flavorful personality by stars Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, Cuckoo is a madcap madhouse horror that's on the right side of deranged.

Synopsis: Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csokas

Directed By: Tilman Singer

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Eva, an idealistic prison officer, is faced with the dilemma of her life when a young man from her past gets transferred to the prison... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Dar Salim, Sebastian Bull Sarning, Marina Bouras

Directed By: Gustav Möller

Critics Consensus: Spaceman's poignant themes are partly brought to life by sensitive performances from a talented cast, but it fails to consistently engage with its most interesting ideas.

Synopsis: Six months into a solitary research mission to the edge of the solar system, an astronaut, Jakub (Adam Sandler), realizes that the marriage he left... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini

Directed By: Johan Renck

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In a quiet and picturesque fishing village in Northern France, something finally happens: a special baby is born. A child so unique and peculiar that... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anamaria Vartolomei, Lyna Khoudri, Camille Cottin, Fabrice Luchini

Directed By: Bruno Dumont

Critics Consensus: Lifted by director Olivier Assayas's fluid storytelling and Vincent Macaigne's magnetic presence, Suspended Time is a warm, gently reflective pandemic portrait that, while slight and overly nostalgic, remains engaging and quietly resonant.

Synopsis: As society recedes in the spring of 2020, film director Paul Berger returns to his childhood home in the provincial Chevreuse Valley. Paul hunkers down... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Vincent Macaigne, Micha Lescot, Nine d'Urso, Nora Hamzawi

Directed By: Olivier Assayas

Critics Consensus: While Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham provide some affecting moments as a father-daughter pair, Treasure's dramatic riches mostly remain buried.

Synopsis: A father-daughter road trip set in 1990s Poland, TREASURE follows Ruth (Dunham), an American music journalist, and her father, Edek (Fry), a charmingly stubborn Holocaust... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Iwona Bielska

Directed By: Julia von Heinz

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After saying no on her wedding day, Aya leaves the Ivory Coast for a new life in the buzzing "Chocolate City" in Guangzhou, China. In... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nina Melo, Han Chang, Wu Ke-Xi, Michael Chang

Directed By: Abderrahmane Sissako

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Sal's empty eyes seem to have been living only on memories since he lost Zoe, the love of his life: memories like fragments of a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Renate Reinsve, Bérénice Bejo, Olivia Williams

Directed By: Piero Messina