User Reviews

If you could hold yourself for the frustrating length dare me say you are going home with a haunting experience. This is without a shadow of doubt the greatest horror films of all time without any ghost or frights. This is so much promising debut by Mascha Schilinski that we are looking forward for her following picture. Also Production design of this film was spot on. Film's non-linear trajectory is sometimes confusing, frustrating with slower pace but in the end you are rewarded for your patience.

"It’s too bad you never know when you’re at your happiest," says one of the protagonists in ‘Sound of Falling,’ winner of the Jury Prize at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Director and co-writer Mascha Schilinski immerses us in the lives of four young women sharing the same space: a farm in the Altmark region of Germany. None of them is exactly happy, yet none is devoid of moments of carefreeness and tranquility—reminiscent, almost, of the cinematic universe of Terrence Malick. Their circumstances are complex, but female resilience emerges to confront them. In what might well be defined as an epic of intimacy, Schilinski alludes to Germany’s contemporary history through the experiences of four girls grappling with traumas, secrets, and conflicts that put their innocence, their fortitude, and even their very existence to the test. A masterpiece of contemplative cinema.

Imagine the cinematography of Tarkovsky's Mirror used for a Thomas Mann saga à la de Buddenbrooks all served with a ultra-morbid, romantic, almost gothic feminine affect, in the dryest, unforgiving Northeast German manner. Not everyone's idea of fun as other comments proved! It's all made competently and is sometimes gorgeously filmed and quite poignant and true. However the copy of Tarkovsky's work is almost too much on the nose as are the leitmotivs popping up across the generations. The Wertherian "romantic" disposition of all protagonists is also far too monotonous, even for this Germanophile reviewer, and doesn't elevate much beyond teeange angst.

How to make Arthouse these days... The Rules: - Most important: Don't use any skills from the traditional art of filmmaking! - Don't explain anything! Just expect the audience to have read a ton of academic books to understand a single scene. - Use fancy names just to impress people. I believe there are only two kinds of people who could find interest in this movie: people who read a lot of books about trauma, and... well, critics. For me personally, this movie is a catastrophe. A complete waste of money and time. But to be fair: The acting is solid, sometimes even very good. The visual quality is sharp. Sound? Basically non-existent, so neither good nor bad. But good camerawork can’t save a movie that refuses to tell a story. My Verdict: 35/100 — Pure pretentiousness. Only watch if you want to analyze trauma, not if you want to watch a movie.

The family drama. A genre that gives audiences the opportunity to observe the intricacies of the family dynamic, without having to engage in any of the aggro that may come with it.German director Mascha Schilinski, with only her second feature, delivers not just any old family drama, but one that spans four generations of families, who all happened to live in the same place... FULL REVIEW HERE: ****/sound-of-falling.html