Here’s a first trailer for “Fatherland,” which won Paweł Pawlikowski Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. The film currently sits at 90 on Metacritic.
Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler are the co-leads in the film, which is set in 1949 against the backdrop of the Cold War, tackling one of the great novelists of the 20th century, Thomas Mann (Zischler) and his daughter Erika (Hüller) — an actress, journalist, and rally driver — on a road trip through a shattered Germany. Driving a black Buick cruiser, they go from U.S.-controlled Frankfurt to Soviet-occupied Weimar.
This is a film that’s visually stunning and impeccably crafted, but — I seem to be in the minority here — it felt emotionally distant and slight. I admired Pawlikowski’s signature black-and-white photography, those precise compositions, and restrained atmosphere — his recognizable style could be described as a more austere version of Wes Anderson — but this is a carefully controlled work that inspires admiration more than genuine emotional impact.
Pawlikowski, who wrote the screenplay together with Henk Handloegten (“Babylon Berlin”), is coming off his acclaimed films “Ida” and “Cold War,” both shot in black and white, and “Fatherland” might complete a post-WWII trilogy of sorts.
Pawlikowski’s go-to cinematographer, Łukasz Żal, is lensing the film — his more recent works include “The Zone of Interest” and “Hamnet.”
Joining Hüller and Zischler in the ensemble are August Diehl (“A Hidden Life”), Anna Madeley (“Patrick Melrose”), Devid Striesow (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), and Theo Trebs (“The White Ribbon”).
MUBI will distribute the film, which is eyeing a fall 2026 release.
