Afire

A group of friends in a holiday home by the Baltic Sea where emotions run high as the parched forest around them catches fire.

Internationally-acclaimed auteur Christian Petzold, whose films Barbara and Phoenix are widely considered contemporary classics, directs this profound powder keg of a film about a group of young creatives caught in the throes of love and ambition.

When the awkward and hotheaded Leon (Thomas Schubert), an aspiring novelist, and Felix (Langston Uibel), his best friend and promising visual artist in his own right, retreat to a holiday estate on the Baltic coast for the summer, they simply hope to share some laughs and make solid progress on creative projects they hope will alter the course of their lives. There, however, they encounter Nadja (Paula Beer) and Devid (Enno Trebs), whose passionate and seemingly boundary-less entanglement entraps Leon and Felix, dramatically disrupting not just their routines, but also their sense of purpose. Meanwhile, a looming forest fire draws nearer with each passing day, threatening to burn all that is beautiful in its path.

Though Afire begins as a lighthearted, low-stakes romp with friends, it soon reveals itself to be a deeply perceptive exploration of the impulse to create — and perhaps even to destroy. The film is gorgeously realized by cinematographer Hans Fromm, who imbues the natural beauty of the Baltic coastline with an otherworldliness and nervous energy that mirrors the characters’ own shifting identities and competing egos, all of which comes to a head in a breathtaking third act. Petzold’s script intelligently traces creativity and sexuality back to a root desire for connection; to be heard is to be felt and vice versa, and though his characters’ passion burns bright, that equilibrium seems constantly just out of reach. Afire is pure, invigorating cinema.