While researching at the university library, non-fiction writer Walter immediately falls for mysterious physics student Agnes. It is the beginning of a stormy romance that is unusual from the start. “How do you want to die?” Agnes asks on their first date. The lovers, played by Ondine Johne and Stephan Kampwirth, begin to write down their story and it doesn’t take long before the written words change their real relationship. Walter uses love as inspiration for his first novel and the deterioration of their relationship is even more of a payoff for him. Director Johannes Schmid (BLÖDE MÜTZE!) adapted a Peter Stamm novel as a puzzle where the lines between dream and reality and flashbacks and fantasies blur after a certain point. The interlaced plot leaves a lot of space open for interpretation about the nature of love relationships that often include two variations of the same story. AGNES is also about the writing process which bleeds into reality and the other way around: writing and living, there is no difference between them in AGNES. At the center of this cerebral love story is the enraptured Agnes, a captivating Ondine Johne, who won this year’s Max Ophüls prize for Best Newcomer. Johne is the heart of the film and is a saving grace during the fim’s more confusing passages until the end when viewers are faced with a cornucopia of open questions.

Christian Horn

Translation: Elinor Lewy