Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes

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2:05

Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes

2021

1h 16m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

18 Reviews

85%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Margo, who comes from a noble family, inherited a castle that she inspects with her ill-tempered husband Dieter. When they arrive at the run-down keep, their relationship is put to a test as their sanity slowly deteriorates. This opens up a new world. As time and space begin to shift around them, a reality that only exists within the walls of the eerie building is exposed -- a reality full of warmth and excess. Things aren't as they seem in this genre-bending film, that shifts between different story layers in unpredictable ways. It is a love letter to European cinema of the sixties and seventies that will leave viewers guessing what will happen next.

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Richard Whittaker

Austin Chronicle

07/13/2022

Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes may not have as much to say as you might hope, but what it does it recites with an enthralling elegance.

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Anton Bitel

Sight & Sound

08/22/2021

In this meta-cinematic hall of mirrors, characters whose every step seems prescribed and well-rehearsed will need to rewrite the screenplay if they hope ever to see in the mo(u)rning and move on.

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Chris Ward

Flickering Myth

12/16/2022

Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes is not a movie that everyone will appreciate, but if you allow its haunting beauty take you on a journey for the perfect 74-minute running time then you will be rewarded with a unique viewing experience.

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Keri O'Shea

Warped Perspective

12/01/2022

It begins looking like something from a 60s Gothic pulp cover, segues into avant-garde Eurohorror and winds up dabbling with 60s counterculture. It’s a period piece, but not as we may know or recognise it.

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Louisa Moore

Screen Zealots

07/08/2022

A haunting, genre-bending, abstract Gothic horror film that’s equally philosophical and disturbing.

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Daniel Gorman

In Review Online

06/30/2022

It’s a singular experience, moving beyond mere homage to become something weirder and more interesting as it culminates in an apocalyptic fury.

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Lee S

@RT74109794 06/27/2025

The visuals are stunning, the sound design immersive, and the performances walk a perfect line between theatrical and intimate. It’s not a film that explains itself, nor should it. Like a dream, it lingers – eerie, erotic, and enigmatic.

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Angela F

@RT16967079 06/07/2025

A psychedelic gothic dream wrapped in velvet, candle wax, and existential dread. It starts off like a moody Euro-horror throwback—haunted castles, doomed lovers, suspicious mirrors—and then shapeshifts into something wilder, weirder, and wonderfully unexpected. It’s as if Jean Rollin and Mario Bava took acid together and tried to outdo each other in one long, stylish fever dream. Gorgeous cinematography, haunting performances, and a bold narrative flip make it more than just pastiche—it’s a love letter to the genre with fangs and brains. Four stars for castle-core aesthetics, sensory overload, and a third act twist that’ll either melt your mind or make you want to immediately rewatch it. Preferably with red wine and sugar cubes.

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Jack S

@RT58840043 12/13/2024

Perhaps this film is an homage to European cinema of a particular genre that I’m simply not very familiar with but, bottom-line, I think it’s really just pretentiously over-stylized, superficial and confusing arthouse garbage.

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Diana S

@DianaWho 08/02/2024

Very experimental and bizarre, which I love, but by the end it felt just a little too disjointed.

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Logan D

@Greynomad38 10/08/2023

Margot and her grumpy husband inherit an old castle. When they arrive, reality seems to bend as does their sanity. Approximately the first half hour is an homage to the european horror of the 60s and 70s. After that, I can't say as it would ruin the film. Certainly a thought provoking film.

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brad p

@Bradster69 02/23/2023

More of an experience than a film, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes is so beautiful, chaotic, and bizarre that you can't but tip your hat to it.

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Kevin Kopacka

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Anna Platen

Eva Ziehnagel

Jeff Wilbusch

Gregor Grause

Luisa Taraz

Margot Menliff

Frederik von Lüttichau

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Synopsis

Margo, who comes from a noble family, inherited a castle that she inspects with her ill-tempered husband Dieter. When they arrive at the run-down keep, their relationship is put to a test as their sanity slowly deteriorates. This opens up a new world. As time and space begin to shift around them, a reality that only exists within the walls of the eerie building is exposed -- a reality full of warmth and excess. Things aren't as they seem in this genre-bending film, that shifts between different story layers in unpredictable ways. It is a love letter to European cinema of the sixties and seventies that will leave viewers guessing what will happen next.

Director: Kevin Kopacka
Producer: Lili Villányi, Kevin Kopacka
Screenwriter: Lili Villányi, Kevin Kopacka
Production Co: Crossbones GmbH
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: German
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 24, 2022
Runtime: 1h 16m