The Friend

Shifting back and forth before and after September 11, 2001, Elmar Fischer's compelling, Berlin-set drama follows the deteriorating friendship of Yunes (Akhavan), an intense Yemeni exchange student, and Chris (Wannek), his easygoing college roommate. When Yunes mysteriously leaves Berlin just days before 9/11, Chris tries to discover if his former best bud participated in the horrifying carnage. Many of the actual WTC plotters trained in Hamburg cells, but The Friend's sense of immediacy comes less from headlines than from its achingly believable performances, especially Akhavan's.