Afire

Christian Petzold

Christian Petzold’s latest is a breezy, often funny, yet emotionally layered melodrama of creative and romantic insecurities along the German Riviera.

DIRECTOR
Christian Petzold
YEAR
2023
COUNTRY
Germany
RUNTIME
102 minutes
LANGUAGE
German with English subtitles
START DATE
July 13, 2023

Set against the backdrop of a seaside town threatened by encroaching wildfires, Christian Petzold’s latest is a breezy, often funny, yet emotionally layered melodrama of creative and romantic insecurities along the German Riviera. The film centers around Leon (Thomas Schubert), a disgruntled novelist struggling to finish his manuscript while traveling with his photographer friend (Langston Uibel) to a vacation home near the Baltic Sea, where they’re met by an unexpected third house guest, Nadja (Paula Beer; Undine, Transit), whose presence distracts Leon as much as it cringingly exposes his self-obsessed bubble. Full of sunkissed tints and nocturnal blues, Afire finds the director operating with a deceptively light touch, but what starts as a hangout comedy gradually opens up into something entirely more surprising and psychologically complex. Winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. A Sideshow and Janus Films release.

For $30, receive one ticket to Afire and a select menu item at Café Paradiso, located in FLC’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Learn more about our Dinner + Movie combo here.

Critic's Pick. A tonic for moviegoers tired of nice, squishable, likable, relatable dull and dull characters.
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
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