The old Berlin building in Black Box has seen better days. Plaster is crumbling everywhere. It’s smelly in the hallways. Frustration is building up among the residents. And then the caretaker Johannes Horn (Felix Kramer) also builds a huge black box in the communal backyard to keep a better eye on the household.
Longtime friends suddenly become enemies. When the police cordoned off the building because of an alleged dangerous situation and prohibits residents from leaving the property, it escalates. And you can witness exactly this escalation in German cinemas from August 10, 2023.
Paranoid Neighbors: Black Box locks a community full of secrets in a backyard
Through the eyes of the young mother Henrike (Luise Heyer), director and screenwriter Asli Özge lets us take part in a conflict that soon revolves around more than supervision by the property management.
Julian Atanassov / Port au Prince Pictures
In Black Box, a tight-knit household gets into a state of emergency
Soon no one is sure: do I even know the people with whom I have shared my house and backyard for so long? And do the police really want to talk to the mysterious Madonna (Manal Issa)? Paranoia sets in. Suddenly, the big conspiracy that would-be revolutionary Erik (Christian Berkel) is talking about no longer seems so improbable.
Thriller meets drama: Aslı Özge’s new feature film is getting harder to bear by the minute
Black Box manages the runtime of around two hours to turn cinematic thumbscrews further and further, until there is nothing you would rather do in front of the screen itself than to escape from the tenement war zone. The increasingly heated neighborhood parties close in on you like the house walls around the Berlin backyard from the film.
Author Ulf Lepelmeier also writes in his 4-star review for FILMSTARTS:
Painfully clear in her observations, director Aslı Özge holds up a mirror to our society with her ensemble drama Black Box.
In the end, the larger truth behind all the small conflicts is pieced together not only for the tenants, but also for the audience. And ends in an escalation which at least I didn’t see coming. Conclusion: Black Box is a really intense German film that shouldn’t be missed.
More insider tips in the podcast: The 8 best Netflix films of all time
Since 2015, Netflix has not only released exclusive series, but also films. We looked at the titles of the past few years and selected the eight best Netflix original films. You can find out exactly which ones are involved in this edition of our podcast Streamgegräber.
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From brutal war drama to dreamy fantasy adventures, from blockbusters to insider tips: you can discover some strong original films on Netflix. Even the lost work of a master director has appeared on the streaming service.
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