Barbara

Christian Petzold (‘Yella’) won the Best Director prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival for this subdued mystery about Barbara (Nina Hoss), a woman in 1980s rural East Germany who arrives from the city to work as a doctor, and lives a double life as a political operative. The film’s thriller tendencies are buried beneath a more low-key study of love and loyalties as Barbara is pulled between a chance to escape and her concern for her patients. This is coupled with the allure of a new friendship with André (Ronald Zehrfeld), a fellow doctor who also buries his secrets deeply. Petzold’s portrait of Germany in this period is subtle, and Hoss gives a discreet, thought-provoking performance.