This is the kind of film that the UK, for all its reflected Hollywood glory, doesn’t seem to produce anymore. Taut socially conscious dramas. Perhaps all the energy for making them goes into the more lucrative arena of high-end TV. The film deals with the travails of Carla, a sympathetic teacher of Polish descent in a German school. When she realises that someone is stealing from her, she sets a trap, little realising that the person who will end up caught in the trap is herself. The film explores a variety of issues, from racism to identity politics, to cancel culture. The action never leaves the school: we don’t learn where Carla lives, or what kind of town this is, but this is compensated for by an increasingly claustrophobic vibe which constantly ratchets up the dramatic tension, until the slightly underwhelming finale. Nevertheless, it’s an example of cinema being used to prise open the fault-lines in German society. The heightened tensions amongst the teachers felt redolent of Germany’s angst around the issues of both Russia/ Ukraine and Palestine, cleft sticks where either action or inaction only seem to makes matter worse, and every tiny conflict becomes exacerbated until it has blown up into a full-scale crisis. Who will benefit from this rarified chaos? Clearly not the well-meaning teachers, as the film makes clear. The well-intentioned, naive Carla just keeps making things worse, the more she tries to right the reeling boat.
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