Christian Petzold (director)
(studio)
15 (certificate)
86 (length)
17 April 2026 (released)
1 d
After a short intro the viewer is taken into a car with Laura (Paula Beer) her partner Jakob (Philip Froissant) with another couple. Laura is clearly distracted and she lingers on the gaze of a woman who is painting a fence as they drive past her.
Reaching their destination Laura no longer feels well and wants to return to Berlin. The other couple are brutal in their dismissal; without argument they toss the car keys to Jakob telling him to drop her off to the train station. There’s a frosty discussion between Jakob and Laura as they pass the lady painting the fence. Next there’s the sound of a crash: Jakob is killed instantly while Laura receives barely a scratch.
As the lady’s home is nearby, she Laura in while the emergency services attend to the crash site and her. Betty (Barbara Aur) is surprised but happy enough to oblige when Laura says she wants to stay with her.
An odd relationship develops which gets odder when Betty’s husband Richard (Matthias Brandt) and son Max (Enno Trebs) come into the story with mentions of medication and Yelena. Tensions and fractures begin to appear in a fragile family structure that Laura is now in the centre of.
There are hints that this could have taken a turn towards the supernatural early on with people stopping at the house to stare as if it had some sort of notoriety. This soon disappears when Betty gives Laura clothes to wear saying they should fit her fine. Then when Betty finds out that Laura is an accomplished piano player, she has the piano tuned. It becomes abundantly clear that Betty is depressed and a little unstable.
Miroirs No.3 is a high-end quality melodrama written and directed by Christian Petzold which looks marvellous with fine acting to complement the lush visuals. The cast are given plenty of space to work in and develop the thin characters they have.
Where it tends to fall down is with a slightly (and slight) predictable story that tries hard to appear macabre at the same time dealing with the immense trauma of loss. Neither really convince which in turn leads to an unsatisfying ending.
Miroirs No. 3 will be in UK cinemas on 17 April 2026.
