The Berlin Film Festival kicked off its 75th anniversary edition February 13 with the opening-night world premiere screening of The Light, Tom Tykwer’s politically charged film that takes stock of German society in the first quarter of the 21st century. It starts 11 days of debuts including for movies starring Jessica Chastain, Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Rupert Friend, Marion Cotillard, Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Emma Mackey and more.
The 2025 Berlinale runs through February 23.
Keep checking back below as Deadline reviews the best and buzziest movies of the festival. Click on the titles to read the full reviews.
‘The Light’
X Filme
Section: Out of Competition (Opening Night)
Director-screenwriter: Tom Tykwer
Cast: Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger, Tala Al-Deen, Elke Biesendorfer, Julius Gause
Deadline’s takeaway: Beware novel psychological therapies from Austria: You never know where they may lead. Tom Tykwer tests Germany’s white liberal guilt, but why it has to be so long is as much of a puzzle as the workings of the light therapy. It is surprisingly watchable, though.
‘Living The Land’
Floating Light (Foshan) Film and Culture
Section: Competition
Director-screenwriter: Huo Meng
Cast: Wang Shang, Zhang Yanrong, Zhang Chuwen, Zhang Caixia
Deadline’s takeaway: Rather than a static tribute to the countryside, Huo’s lovely roving eye for composition and gentle hand with drama trace the challenges and enduring bonds among several hard-working generations of Chinese farmers, set during the 1990s in a country on the cusp of vast change.
