Berlin Syndrome

A not-quite-accomplished attempt at a variation of Panic Room, only less technically proficient, with a much less sophisticated script that could have pushed the envelope a lot more but doesn’t. Regardless, the protagonist, the otherwise excellent Teresa Palmer, has countless opportunities to sway the course of events in her favour much earlier, but for reasons unknown, her character behaves extremely illogically at times. That unfortunately applies also to all the other characters that get mixed into the story. What remains is an appeal to the European touch at all costs (music, sets, editing), great cinematography that makes the most of Berlin, but in this case, with such a structured plot, the running time is extremely excessive. As a genre film it’s bearable. (06/18/2017)

A girl wants to study in Berlin, where she is a bit bored and feels like a stranger, and so she is happy to make friends. It just doesn't occur to her that the nice man might be a little crazy. This is a good, civilly-conceived drama that doesn't want to go to unnecessary extremes, but in doing so still makes for a good, if lengthy, spectacle in which no one wants to find themselves. (09/25/2017)

I don’t want to go on another date, ever :D You meet a handsome man who has a decent and fulfilling job and then this? What a downer! The script can’t be said to be revolutionary or that the actors deserve an Oscar, despite the fact that their performances are very good, but you are left gasping at the darkness and the terrifying kind of depravity of the sociopathic protagonist, whose calmness and patience are chilling in some situations, and whose erratic nature doesn't let you breathe a sigh of relief as you wait for some kind of explosion and how it will actually end. Another user here perfectly captured the mood when they wrote that this is not a film where something happens all the time, but a film that gradually gets under your skin and builds an atmosphere – I couldn't have written it better. An excellent Max Riemelt, whom I see as a bad guy for the first time, and great music to complement the chilling and depressing mood. All in all, a pleasant surprise that will arouse unpleasant feelings in you. (06/03/2017)