Next Door

Daniel (a self-deprecating Brühl) leads an enviable life. A famous actor, he lives in a stylish penthouse apartment in Berlin’s hip Prenzlauer Berg district with his wife and children. One morning, as he prepares to jet off to London to screen-test for a ‘top-secret’ new American superhero blockbuster, he pops into the local dive bar to kill some time. There, he meets middle-aged Bruno (a deliciously sardonic Peter Kurth), initially dismissing him as a(nother) fan. But far from it, Bruno’s in fact Daniel’s neighbour, and has been awaiting this moment. Bruno sees himself as one of reunification’s losers and a victim of the gentrification of what was once East Berlin and - as the pair banter, and he begins nitpicking the increasingly exasperated (and now late for his flight) Daniel’s career - he gradually reveals a far more intimate knowledge of Daniel’s life than is comfortable... Written for the screen by best-selling German author Daniel Kehlmann, Brühl’s two-hander combines verbal sparring with schadenfreude for a wryly entertaining comedy of wits and secrets that will have you wondering just how much you know about your own neighbours. (Palace Films)