There’s no doubt about it: multiverses are trendy. Marvel created an entire phase out of it in its film world, the Daniels won seven Oscars for EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. And so it isn’t surprising that German cinema is also trying its hand at the multiverse hypothesis. DIE THEORIE VON ALLEM is the second feature-length film of Timm Kröger and was the only German film in competition in Venice. Kräger and his co-screenwriter Roderick Warich (THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN) opt for a much more academic approach to the topic. It’s the year 1962. Young student Johannes Leinert (Jan Bülow) is working on his doctorate when he makes a groundbreaking discovery: there are parallel worlds along with our known world, alternatives to our existence. His doctoral supervisor (Hanns Zischler) rejects his protege’s idea as a fantasy. Together they travel to a congress in the Swiss Alps, where Johannes encounters the loud and blunt Professor Blum (Gottfried Breitfuß) who gets enthusiastic about his idea. When Blum disappears shortly thereafter, dark men appear, and Johannes meets inscrutable Karin (Olivia Ross) who seems to know him, he finds himself becoming a plaything of mysterious forces.

Young director and screenwriter Timm Kröger tells his story with a lot of confidence, though he has a much smaller budget at his disposal than those superhero adventures. Kröger relies on atmosphere and directs his film in the style of greats like Fritz Lang and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. The black of the shadows in the black and white images seem threatening and impenetrable. Character actors like Hanns Zischler (MUNICH) and Gottfried Breitfuß show the range of their acting experience. There was a lot of applause for this at the premiere in Venice.

Lars Tunçay

Translation: Elinor Lewy