A film shoot sparks fear and anger when a holy book is desecrated in the name of art in this intense German thriller, fanning the flames of contemporary conflict into a taut and tangly blaze.
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A cleverly plotted whodunit… Imagine Knives Out meets François Truffaut’s Day for Night, but set in a present-day Germany rife with tensions about immigration and Islam.
Hysteria 2025
Recreating the scene of a racist firebombing of the recent past, an independent film production pushes the limits of vérité as a real Qur’an is burnt up with the set. The arty filmmakers are satisfied in capturing the honest reactions of their Islamic extras – pain, fury, disbelief – but they’ve also lit the fuse to a conspiracy that will enact the public debate between freedom of expression and religious respect in an intimate, paranoid mystery.
Production grinds to a halt when a saboteur appears to be working against the film in an act of spiritual retaliation. Caught in the centre of a web of secrets and lies is young intern Elif (Devrim Lingnau), her dream job turning nightmare scenario as the workplace conflict spills across lines of race and class. Scrambling to appease her wealthy benefactors, advocate for beleaguered workmates, and keep her own secrets hidden, Elif grows increasingly worried about how far the mysterious perpetrator is willing to go.
Director and screenwriter Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay turns up the heat as his characters simmer in the anxieties of modern society. Lies, recriminations and prejudices come to the surface as tensions reach boiling point. — Adrian Hatwell