And Tomorrow the Entire World

It’s an amateur collective of Antifa hippies versus mobilised, brutish neo-nazis in German director Julia von Heinz’s And Tomorrow the Entire World, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival.

Set in the city of Mannheim, south Germany, the feature takes us on a brief, whirlwind ride in the young life of university student Louisa (excellently portrayed by Mala Emde). Training to be a lawyer and possessing a strong moral compass, the protagonist is attracted to the cause of anti-fascism. How far will this well-off, countryside-dwelling lawyer-to-be go to support the movement?

As a film which explores to what extent one will go to further a cause, to defend a principle, And Tomorrow the Entire World ranks middlingly among a tempestuous subgenre. There’s little insight to accompany the scraps of action and minor scuffles. It’s timely enough, given that Antifa are now deemed a terrorist threat by Trump and the White House, and the far-right are riding a wave of popularity in mainstream politics, but this picture feels like it could be from any point in the last 30 years. 

Without being asked directly, the audience is constantly made to position itself in Louisa’s shoes and question what course of action would we take to defend what we think is right. The central themes are tension within movements, peaceful vs violent activism and the idealism of youth. Louisa’s dad even snarkily chides her on this subject: “If you’re not left-wing under 30, you have no heart; if you’re not right-wing after 30, you have no brain”.

Maybe trying to escape this environment, Louisa joins the hippie commune P31. Within this small collective, von Heinz examines conflicts within in the Antifa leftist movement (and all political activist groups), large scale protest vs continued smaller demonstrations, defence vs provocation and, most of all, what you’re willing to sacrifice vs what you stand to gain. And Tomorrow the Entire World ultimately loses its battle to engage and exhilarate, but the unanswered questions it throws up are intriguing, even if the source of these quandaries is not.

Jake Cudsi

And Tomorrow the Entire World does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Venice Film Festival 2020 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Venice Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for And Tomorrow the Entire World here: