Directed by:
Daniel BrühlScreenplay:
Daniel KehlmannCinematography:
Jens HarantCast:
Daniel Brühl, Peter Kurth, Rike Eckermann, Aenne Schwarz, Gode Benedix, Vicky Krieps, Justine Hirschfeld, Steffen Scheumann, Mex Schlüpfer, Arne Duppler (more)Plots(1)
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)
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Reviews (6)
Now that's what they a bad day or, more precisely, a shitty day. I don't know how else to describe in a nutshell what successful actor Daniel experiences when, in the morning, all excited about a big role and goes to a local bar where he meets an elderly man named Bruno, who turns out to be Daniel’s neighbor, and is very taken with him. After that, an excellent conversation starts, which is clever and has balls, is somewhat unreadable, full of sudden twists and turns, and therefore also great fun. The resulting positive impression given by this movie is underscored by very convincing performances by Daniel Brühl and Peter Kurth. (85%)
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A well-made conversational film with good acting by not only Daniel Brühl, but also his counterpart Peter Kurth. Next Door does not possess an utterly innovative or riveting screenplay, but it ably holds the viewer’s interest and curiosity, and in the second half, it even manages to pull an ace from its sleeve, which changes the perspective of the characters’ perception. The most valuable aspect of the film is Brühl’s autobiographical portrayal of his true self as a globally successful German actor living in Berlin. And the fragments of his interactions with the everyday world around him. [Karlovy Vary International Film Festival]
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Daniel Brühl brought his low-key, yet confident and dynamically shot directorial debut to Karlovy Vary this year, and I have to admit that I was surprised how it grabbed me after a while. A conversational drama rich in ideas, with a bit of humour and many surprises, it practically resembles a stage play, taking place mostly in one room with two main characters and flowing at a very brisk pace. I'm actually quite curious to see what Brül will get up to next behind the camera. [KVIFF 2024]
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Daniel Brühl’s directorial debut is a standout. It perfectly captures the contrasting mindsets of West and East Germans. Initially, it sets the stage in a typical dive bar, the kind where the first alcoholics start banging on the door at ten in the morning. But soon enough, it evolves into an intense drama centered around Brühl playing himself and Peter Kurth as his long-time neighbor, who holds up a mirror to Brühl's life. It’s a well-crafted dialogue-driven piece where the tension escalates with every second.
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This "pub western" pitting a western star against an earthy eastern dude has potentially many layers (the relationship between West and East, gentrification, superficial glamour, loneliness), but Brühl, as director and protagonist, chooses the path of likable caricature. It's nice to look at, but it doesn't leave much of a mark on you, and Peter Kurth wins overwhelmingly in this shootout with his much more believable and nuanced acting. Ironically, the main star gets off too cheaply.
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