The camera slowly pans through furnished rooms; sounds from a distant past can be heard, and the apartment in the old building seems to be empty. But there’s someone sitting on the windowsill—it’s a nightmare, a mythical figure that sits on people’s chests at night and squeezes the air out of them.

The four very different siblings clearly sense the presence of this nightmare. This apartment belongs to them, even though only one of them still lives there. But it’s not mythical creatures that are suffocating them; rather, it’s very real worries that plague young people searching for their place in life in a big city like Warsaw—toxic relationships, panic attacks, and fear of commitment.

With refreshing casualness and a level of dramatic maturity astonishing for a debut, Emi Buchwald keeps her finger on the pulse of a generation in which everyone is battling their own demons. Perhaps this battle can only be won in one way—as a group, or better yet: as a family. The film’s close connection to everyday life—which is also reflected in the language typical of Gen Z—the blend of tragedy and comedy, and a subtly applied dose of metaphysics come across to German audiences as a successful mix of AKIZ’s Der Nachtmahr and Dietrich Brüggemann’s 3 Zimmer/Küche/Bad. [Rainer Mende]

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director Emi Buchwald.