Berlin Syndrome | Rotten Tomatoes

Berlin Syndrome

R

Released May 26, 2017

1 hr. 56 min.

Mystery & Thriller

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for Berlin Syndrome: Trailer 1

List

74%

90 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A disturbed teacher holds a young photographer captive in his Berlin apartment after bringing her home for a night of romance.

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Critics Consensus

Berlin Syndrome offers thriller fans an uncommonly well-written descent into dangerous obsession, enlivened by taut direction and a committed performance from Teresa Palmer.

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Gareth v

A claustropobic, abduction movie that could do with a slightly quicker tempo.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/22/23

Full Review

Dave S

While it doesn't really offer much that is new to the whole captor and captive narrative, Berlin Syndrome works primarily because of the borderline-artsy direction from Cate Shortland and another committed performance from the always reliable Teresa Palmer. In the movie, a young Australian woman (Palmer) travelling in Berlin finds herself engaged in a one-night stand with a seemingly charming school teacher (Max Riemelt), only to find herself trapped in the unit of an abandoned apartment block the following day. It does become a bit of a repetitive slog for a few scenes at the midway point, but the atmosphere is ominous throughout, raising Berlin Syndrome a notch above others in the genre. More than anything else, the movie begs the following question: why is Teresa Palmer not a bigger star than she is?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/22/23

Full Review

corkball

What the hell is wrong with German people? I'll give it a couple of stars on account of the filmmakers do seem to have talent, and the film is grossly compelling in a car wreck gawker sort of way. But seriously, as I get older, I have less tolerance for this kind of stuff.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/22/23

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Glenda N

This film seriously creeped me out! The tension, the pace, the acting. Amazing

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Had me glued to the screen from start to finish. Incredible acting on behalf of Theresa Palmer. Had me feeling a spectrum of emotions from anguish to hope to sympathy and repulsion.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I liked this one a lot. It is at times almost surreal feeling as it portrays the life of a woman held in captivity. While she is at all times desperate for escape, she also acknowledges her twisted form of dependence on her captor as time goes on. Berlin Syndrome's sense of time is brilliant (especially now with the pandemic in mind) as it seems to move like any other movie, but clearly the timeline takes place over many months as the seasons change. Time is simultaneously moving, and moving fast, but we feel stuck in place. The finale was incredibly tense and the movie did a great job of keeping me invested in nearly its entire 2 hours especially considering this may have been better off as a 90 minute story.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Cate Shortland

Director

Teresa Palmer

Clare

Max Riemelt

Andi

Matthias Habich

Erich

Emma Bading

Franka Hummels

Elmira Bahrami

Jana

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Berlin Syndrome: Trailer 1

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

It gets by on evil ambience. Just.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 29, 2017

Full Review

Ryan Gilbey

New Statesman

No one who sees Shortland's movie will be minded to inflict it on their friends, or much thanked if they do.

Jun 15, 2017

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Shortland delves into the knotty complexity of the co-dependent relationship between captor and captive.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 11, 2017

Full Review

Kip Mooney

College Movie Review

A sharp, entertaining, thought-provoking movie.

Rated: B

Aug 24, 2021

Full Review

Emma Wolfe

SpookyAstronauts

It was such an emotional roller coaster of film and I think that Teresa Palmer played the main characters so well.

Rated: 8/10

Apr 26, 2021

Full Review

Glenn Dunks

Glenn Dunks

Berlin Syndrome posits actual answers for the terrible questions people ask of sexual-violence survivors. And, significantly, it addresses them through a riveting piece of art cinema made not-so-coincidentally with women in key production roles.

Rated: B+

Jul 19, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

A disturbed teacher holds a young photographer captive in his Berlin apartment after bringing her home for a night of romance.

Director: Cate Shortland
Executive Producer: Angie Fielder, Emilie Georges, Tanja Meissner, Naima Abed, Troy Lum, Cecilia Ritchie, Oliver Lawrance, Florence Tourbier, Scott Anderson
Screenwriter: Shaun Grant
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Production Co: DDP Studios, Aquarius Films, Memento Films, Film Victoria
Rating: R (Some Language|Nudity|Disturbing Violent Content|Strong Sexuality)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 26, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 26, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $28.6K

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