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Synopsis
Our Take
9.8
Tara Goe
Much like Berlin’s infamous nightlife, which serves as the backdrop to the plot, this daring German real-time drama will eat you up and spit you out. After leaving a nightclub at 4am, Victoria, a runaway Spanish girl, befriends a gang of four raucous young men, climbing rooftops and drinking beers among the city’s moon-lit streets. The gang’s light-hearted banter is impressively improvised from a skeleton script, offset by Niels Frahm’s ominous original score.
But what starts out as late-night high jinks swerves into darker territory. Driven by her infatuation with the pack leader Sonne, played by Frederick Lau, Victoria ends up being recruited as a get-away driver for an ill-prepared bank robbery and loses herself in a sinister spiral of events. What sounds like a standard-issue crime drama is, in fact, a staggering cinematic experiment.
Filmed in one take, on location, and in real time, the movie’s production is indeed a gamble, but director Sebastian Schipper more than pulls it off. The claustrophobic camerawork of cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen leaves the viewer feeling like a hapless accomplice to Victoria’s plight. With Laia Costa giving an awe-striking lead performance, the high wire acting of the entire main cast only adds to this effect. Victoria is a stellar directorial debut, heart-stopping drama, and a truly immersive experience.
Comments
L
lvazquez405
Dragged out and totally implausible, how dumb can you be both the girl and the guys. Don’t waste your time it’s awful…
D
David
A movie that, due to its single-shot format, heavily relies on character emotional investment and pace-keeping, but fails to succeed in this regard. Go ahead and watch it with an open mind, but I must say the technichally ambitious film was far from entertaining or captivating.
B
Blaque X
I have no idea why this film is praised so much it is honestly one of the worst things I’ve watched in my life, the plot is unrealistic the characters are nor worth investing in and seem so distant, the one shot real time format does not work well here and makes the film tedious and boring.
J
Jennie
Severely disappointed, what a waste of our time. The whole plot seems to be based on the characters’ stupidity, making one dumb and unrealistic choice after the other. Furthermore, the characters aren’t likeable, the plot is predictable, the story moves really slow due to the one-shot format.. I can’t comprehend why everyone is praising this movie so much?
N
negatic
A really good movie, absolutely worth a watch even if just for the good soundtrack from Nils Frahm. The acting is really good with a lot of soul to it.
W
wtmz
Victoria has hidden strength and character that come as a surprise. Her performance of “The Mephisto Waltz”, her recitation of her struggles in the conservatory foreshadow what she, ostensibly silly and passive, becomes.
Could have used some editing to keep the pace going by reducing camera “dwell time” in certain scenes.
S
sujanthereaper
Not knowing what will happen next was the most interesting in the movie. The point where it starts and ends is just unexpected.
J
jplota
For me, it is one of the most (and probably the most) intense and absorbing movies I’ve ever seen in my life. It gives you all kinds of feelings and sometimes, all them mixed up in a gorgeous production.
P
Padrig Gallacher
Superb film. the plot moves slowly at first and then it crescendos into a edge-of-the-seat thriller. I would love to see a documentary on how this was filmed. 10/10
D
Dalton Glenn
This movie blew my mind! Probably the only time I’ve felt real adrenaline watching a movie!
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