Toni Erdmann

Shark-like corporate go-getter Ines (a brilliant and brave Sandra Hüller, later of Anatomy of a Fall) has a testy relationship with her prank-playing father, retired music teacher Winfried (Peter Simonischek), in part because he does things like dress up in a costume and false teeth to play someone called Toni Erdmann, and in part because he keeps asking impossible questions like, “Are you happy?” Ines accepts a position in Bucharest, and soon gets an unwanted surprise: an impulsive visit from the father she’d rather avoid…

When Maren Ade’s debut The Forest for the Trees played VIFF in 2004, everyone who saw it knew she was destined for big things. Well, the very funny and yet deeply poignant Toni Erdmann is that big thing: a sui generis slice of bravura filmmaking, with a depth and a range of feeling — from the hilarious to the profoundly moving — that are extraordinarily rare. It is no secret that many critics and festival programmers thought the film deserved the Palme d’Or at Cannes — it is, in a word, a masterpiece.

A thrilling act of defiance against the toxicity of doing what is expected, on film, at work and out in the world. Toni Erdmann, proceeding in a perfectly straightforward manner, from one awkward, heartfelt, hilarious scene to the next, wraps itself around some of the thorniest complexities of contemporary reality. There are things you will look at differently after seeing Toni Erdmann. A short list might include petits fours, cheese graters, team-building exercises and a certain song immortalized by Whitney Houston. Also German comedies, Bulgarian costumes, Romanian hotels, fatherhood and the anxious, absurd state of the human race in the 21st century.

AO Scott, New York Times

An immensely rich, deeply felt exploration of human relationships that draws you in and holds you fast for nearly three hours.

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelpha Inquirer

One of the most stirring cinematic experiences to come around in a long time.

Giovanni Marchini Camia, The Film Stage

A stunningly singular third feature by Ade that transports the intricately magnified human observation of her previous work to a rich, unexpected comic realm… A humane, hilarious triumph.

Guy Lodge, Variety