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Phoenix

Drama, History

A disfigured concentration-camp survivor (Nina Hoss), unrecognizable after facial reconstruction surgery, searches ravaged postwar Berlin for the husband (Ronald Zehrfeld) who might have betrayed her to the Nazis.

More information on this production is available at www.sodapictures.com.

The critical consensus

A gripping study of treachery, identity and survival.

****(*)David Parkinson, Empire Online, 06/05/2015

If it fails to consistently transcend its narrative troubles Phoenix does, on occasion, take flight.

***(*)(*)Emma Simmonds, The List, 04/05/2015

Phoenix is a compelling exploration of one woman’s sense of self and the seldom discussed immediate post-war years in Germany.

****(*)Nicola MacDonald, TVBomb, 06/05/2015

A Berlin thriller with hints of Hitchcock and plenty of plot twists.

****(*)Geoffrey MacNab, The Independent, 07/05/2015

Reconstructive surgery could never come anywhere near the convincing results shown here: not in 1945 – and not in 2015, come to that. The flaw is fatal, and the fantasy crumbles.

**(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 07/05/2015

Petzold builds the film to a stunningly executed finale that serves as a potent metaphor for the way the performance required by denial can’t hope to suppress the truth from revealing itself.

****(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 09/05/2015

Plot implausibilities are overcome in this second world war drama thanks to the terrific Nina Hoss as a disfigured woman who gains a new face.

***(*)(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 10/05/2015

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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