A broken family and an emotionally broken young woman are brought together following an accident, and lives start to be rebuilt – until the truth emerges. Christian Petzold’s new offering Miroirs no.3 plays at London Film Festival 2025.
Barbara Auer, Paula Beer, Mathias Brandt, Enno Trebs – it must be the next Christian Petzold film. Petzold is known for having an ensemble of actors with whom he likes to work repeatedly, and Miroirs no.3 is the latest in this list.
Beer plays Laura, a young woman clearly unhappy in her life, who survives a car accident in the German countryside. Having already mysteriously made eye contact from the car with Betty (Auer) at the roadside before the accident, the older woman comes to her rescue, making space for Laura to recuperate at her home. Unaware of Laura’s presence, Betty’s husband (Brandt) and son (Trebs) are invited to dinner, leading to an uncomfortable family meal.
Anyone familiar with Christian Petzold’s films will immediately recognise some familiar themes as the narrative unfolds – although he never feels like he is saying the same thing twice. Here, there are people who, either collectively or individually, are not being entirely truthful with either themselves or those around them – the audience understands that this is happening, but not why, which produces a strange tension and unease without any need of non-diegetic music.
Driven by the two women, this dance around the truth leads to the mending of some formerly cracked souls, but also the breakdown of newer relationships, before everyone involved can start to find a new way to move forward in life.
It’s easy to see threads of Petzold’s earlier films Barbara or Phoenix in the web of unspoken truths, and although these themes are Petzold staples, Miroirs no.3 doesn’t have quite the earth-shattering drama of either of those, and makes use of the ensemble working together rather than relying on one person.
For anyone wondering, the film’s title refers to a piano piece by Ravel which is played during the film – its subtitle Une barque sur l’Ocean (A Ship on the Ocean) not only describes the emotions of the characters, looking perhaps for a port in a storm, but also ties in nicely with Petzold’s obsession with water – for those keeping track!