Phoenix

PG-13

Released Jul 24, 2015

1 hr. 38 min.

History

Drama

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List

98%

132 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After undergoing reconstructive surgery, a concentration camp survivor (Nina Hoss) tries to find out if her husband (Ronald Zehrfeld) betrayed her to the Nazis.

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Critics Consensus

Tense, complex, and drenched in atmosphere, Phoenix is a well-acted, smartly crafted war drama that finds writer-director Christian Petzold working at peak power.

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Alec B

The plot is so nuanced, the characters so keenly observed and realized that it's shocking that the movie is also so economical. No moment is wasted as the film builds to what I can only describe as a perfect ending.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

Full Review

Matthew D

Denial and deception are both intertwined in this emotionally chilling piece. Director Christian Petzold's German historical post-war melodrama Phoenix (2014) is fascinating. It is a slow moving meditation on the trauma inflicted by the Nazis and how Jewish people must deal with their pain. Writers Christian Petzold and Harun Farocki adapt Hubert Monteilhet's novel with an interesting perspective of empathy and condemnation. I found it interesting we're watching a Jewish woman returning from a concentration camp, unable to start again with her changed face. She is in denial over her own husband having turned her into the SS and ruined her life. She honestly thinks she can win him back in a twisted turn of events. The German husband is in denial and dismissal of the pain he caused and how cruel the German Nazis were to Jews. It's a very bleak and dark picture. The quiet ending is haunting, but also leaves something to be desired. Nina Hoss is phenomenal as Nelly Lenz. Her final singing scene is beautiful and devastating. Her every expression of grief over her lost life and pathetic clinging to her Nazi husband who nearly got her killed and divorced her is so sad. Nina Hoss is a wonderful actress. She is very subtle and touching with these hurt eyes that linger. Ronald Zehrfeld is sickening as the forceful and controlling Nazi husband Johnny Lenz, now hiding out under the false name of Johannes. He does a good job of showing how cruel and inconsiderate Johnny is, clearly only thinking of money and not even recognizing the wife he betrayed. Nina Kunzendorf is moving as the furious Lene Winter, who cannot believe a Jewish woman sent to the camps could forgive and still love her Nazi husband. She cannot cope with this tragic tale and removes herself from the situation entirely. Petzold's direction is gripping, grey, and dreary. He has a bit of a neo-noir style, but this Vertigo twist story is more sad than revealing. I wish editor Bettina Böhler cut this quicker as Phoenix is merely 99 minutes, but felt twice that length. Hans Fromm's dark cinematography is striking and production designer Klaus-Dieter Gruber recreates ruined post WWII Berlin in rubble. Composer Stefan Will's stunning score is gentle and brings a lot of emotion to Phoenix. Costume designer Anette Guther goes from rags to striking red dresses for Nina Hoss. Makeup artists Barbara Kreuzer, Alexandra Lebedynski, and Irina Tübbecke-Bechem transform Nina Hoss from scarred survivor to haunted lady finding herself again. Hairstyling from Jeanette Kellermann is interesting from the frazzled grey and browns to lush wavy brunette hair for Nina Hoss. In all, Phoenix is frustrating and sad to see such a tragic relationship and how hurt Nina Hoss' heroine Nelly feels.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/07/23

Full Review

Mom C

Revenge is a dish best served cold and this tale is downright icy at its core. The moment the penny drops for Johannes is SO satisfying.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/01/23

Full Review

Tonatiuh C

Buena sin merecer tanta frescura, siempre esperando el climax en el desarrollo de la historia, el final buenísimo

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

william d

Slow-paced and implausible - I'm skeptical the husband wouldn't recognize his wife even if her face had been rearranged - with an ultimately unsatisfying ending.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

william k

Intelligently plotted Vertigo-like post-war melodrama with excellent period detail and good cast explores on several levels the effects of Nazism and the war on German society.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Christian Petzold

Director

Nina Hoss

Nelly Lenz

Ronald Zehrfeld

Johnny Lenz

Nina Kunzendorf

Lene Winter

Michael Maertens

Arzt

Imogen Kogge

Elisabeth

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Phoenix: Trailer 1

2:04

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Clayton Dillard

Slant Magazine

Phoenix, Christian Petzold's meditation on individual and cinematic ouroboros, lands on Blu-ray with a masterful transfer from the Criterion Collection.

Apr 27, 2016

Full Review

Catherine Wheatley

Sight & Sound

This is cinema at its most ineffable and its most potent.

Jan 15, 2016

Full Review

J. Hoberman

Tablet

The movie is fluid, suspenseful, and preposterous-although, more historically than psychologically, and not necessarily in a negative sense.

Dec 31, 2015

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

The story sometimes pushes the bounds of implausibility yet it is never a problem within the film’s parable-like framework.

Rated: 4.5/5

Aug 24, 2022

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Petzold's direction is simple and natural, far removed from the expressive formal styles of Hitchcock and Frankenheimer in their respective films about a facial transmigration.

Rated: 4/4

Apr 23, 2022

Full Review

Dustin Chang

ScreenAnarchy

Petzold plays around with the idea of forced forgetfulness in this tale of inversed Vertigo.

Feb 14, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

After undergoing reconstructive surgery, a concentration camp survivor (Nina Hoss) tries to find out if her husband (Ronald Zehrfeld) betrayed her to the Nazis.

Director: Christian Petzold
Executive Producer: Jacek Gaczkowski, Piotr Strzelecki
Screenwriter: Christian Petzold, Harun Farocki
Distributor: IFC Films
Rating: PG-13 (Some Thematic Elements|Brief Suggestive Material)
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 4, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.2M
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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