Synopsis
Berlin, the Prenzlauer Berg district. Daniel is a movie star accustomed to success. His loft apartment is stylish and so is his wife, and the nanny has the children under control. Everything is tip-top, bilingual and ready for him to jet off to an audition in London where a role in an American superhero film awaits the celebrated German-Spanish actor. Popping into the local bar on the corner, he finds Bruno sitting there. As transpires by the minute, Bruno has been waiting for this moment for a long time. And so this eternally overlooked man – one of reunification's losers and a victim of the gentrification of what was once East Berlin – takes his revenge. With Daniel as his target...
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Cast
- Daniel BrühlDaniel
- Peter KurthBruno
- Rike EckermannPatronne du pub
- Aenne SchwarzClara
- Vicky KriepsActrice
- Gode BenedixMicha
- Justine HirschfeldConchita
- Ole HermannMirko
- Nils DoergeloHomme devant le pub
- Luisa-Céline GaffronJeune femme
Recommendations
- 80
CineVue
Actor Daniel Brühl makes his directorial debut with this delightfully taut, blackly comic satire. - 70
Screen Daily
A little more venom or bite might have been welcome but this is still an entertaining skewering of celebrity and the way a single day can flip from triumph to outright disaster - 63
Slant Magazine
Unlike Malcom & Marie, Daniel Brühl’s feature-length directorial debut proves to be authentically self-castigating. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
An amusing, accomplished debut on its own modest terms, Next Door works best as tart meta comedy, becoming increasingly cramped in scope and setting as it spirals into an obsessive revenge thriller. - 58
The Film Stage
Contrary to the setup’s illusions, Brühl distances and thus absolves himself by making Daniel a nasty caricature–arrogant, speaking in brooding actorly tones, eager to pose for selfies and flirt with fans. Had he played it straight, Next Door might just have been vital. - 50
IndieWire
Spry enough to sustain its wisp of an idea but too contained in both story and setting to resonate beyond its most basic thrills, Next Door is a pleasantly unfulfilled promise of a debut. - 50
The Playlist
Brühl works confidently as a director and star, however, hopefully with the potential to be a little more ambitious in the future. - 50
Variety
The film’s games of genre-shuffling and celebrity self-satire can’t override the essential tedium of its core conflict.
