Rosebush Pruning

“People are roses, families are rosebushes. And rosebushes need pruning” is one of the proverbs Ed (Callum Turner) makes up in his spare time – of which he has plenty. The family has amassed so much wealth that neither he nor his siblings (Jamie Bell, Riley Keough, Lukas Gage) have to work for a living. Their homely status quo is suddenly threatened when the eldest brings home a girlfriend (Elle Fanning).

In a loose remake of the 1965 satire Fists in the Pocket, Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz revels in the image of a household, whose want for nothing has left them without real drive or ambition. They name-drop fashion designers and brands the way other people would find solace in art or religion.

The titular floral metaphor is maintained in their beauty, and their nursing of thorns. Emotionally inept and lacking boundaries, they are practically trauma-bonded to each other. It is fitting that the film premieres in Germany, where they have a word for this type of affluent neglect: Wohlstandsverwahrlosung.

In screenwriter Efthimis Filippou, Aïnouz has finally found the perfect sparring partner to bestow his evocative style with searing words to match. There are thematic similarities to Filippou’s previous collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos: an unlimited willingness to explore the darkest of family dynamics and human depravity. Aïnouz and his regular DOP Hélène Louvart frame the sharp edges alongside poppy music breaks, and with high saturation highlighting the excess.

The feature thrives on its fearless cast and their collective energy, each actor feeding off the other. Callum Turner only joined the production after Josh O’Connor had to drop out due to scheduling issues, but his enticing portrayal of the sleek and slippery manipulator shows him at the top of his game.

Potentially the first major uproar of the 76^th Berlinale, Rosebush Pruning is a lush, venomous satire that trims back the glamour of inherited privilege to expose the rot festering beneath perfectly cultivated petals.