What Marielle Knows

The 75^th edition of the Berlinale seemed set on breaking with stereotypes. Perhaps a shock to many, the Competition film that garnered the most laughs from its international audience was the sole German entry, What Marielle Knows. Even the decision to include Frédéric Hambalek’s sophomore feature and bench more established directors into Special and Panorama sections seemed like a conscious decision to showcase a different type of German cinema than what the general public may be used to.

An incident at school causes Marielle (Laeni Geiseler) to develop psychic abilities: she hears, sees and feels everything that happens to her parents (played by Julia Jentsch and Christoph Kramer). Naturally, this completely changes the way she perceives them: her father isn’t the authoritative figure he claims to be; in fact, he struggles to earn the respect of his younger co-workers, while Marielle’s mother is preoccupied with sexual fulfilment, wholly disturbing her daughter.

The film’s strongest suit is its script, which sharply tackles the messiness of family life in a story equally preoccupied with societal themes of policing and surveillance. There comes a moment of disillusionment in any child’s life, when they realise that their parents are only human beings such as themselves, and in fact fallible, and Hambalek’s approach brings to mind the Elbert Hubbard quote, “If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate.”

While the feature’s humour is built on the unpredictable, and relishes the chaos and eccentricity of this scenario, it falls short on this pledge by giving in to conventions as it draws to a close.

Leading with its original premise, What Marielle Knows taps a finger into the zeitgeist of moral judgment and dwindling privacy, but as it does not expand on these themes, what remains is more of an entertaining thought experiment wrapped in a dark family comedy, and will not kindle any flames beyond that.

Selina Sondermann

What Marielle Knows does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival coverage here.

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