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The Sparrow in the Chimney

Play trailer 1:43 Poster for The Sparrow in the Chimney Aug 2025 1h 57m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 21 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Karen, along with her husband Markus and their children, lives in her childhood home, left behind after the death of her mother. When her sister, Jule, visits with her family to celebrate Markus's birthday, the weekend opens old wounds and past traumas, unleashing repressed feelings that threaten to destroy their relationship and shatter Karen's grip on reality. The latest film from acclaimed writer and director Ramon Zücher (The Girl and The Spider), The Sparrow in the Chimney is a "darkly engrossing psychodrama of pent-up domestic tensions." (Variety) With "deep, bold dives into the nightmarish and the surreal" and a venomously comedic touch, this is the "rare film that feels like a catharsis for protagonist and director both." (The Film Stage)
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The Sparrow in the Chimney

Critics Reviews

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Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com Aug 1
2/4
It’s a disturbing, sometimes beautiful film that, by the end, is disquieting for all the wrong reasons. Go to Full Review
Kyle Smith Wall Street Journal Jul 31
The movie is polished and bitter, like a fairy-tale poisoned apple. Go to Full Review
Zachary Lee RogerEbert.com 11/01/2024
A film dipped in venom, often funny and deeply unsettling in how it portrays families who don’t feel the need to hide their vitriol behind pleasantries. Go to Full Review
Ria Dhull Spectrum Culture Aug 7
Zürcher is more focused on shock value than substance in The Sparrow in the Chimney; any knowledge we might gain about these characters through the film is immediately muddled, as we watch them commit incomprehensible act after incomprehensible act. Go to Full Review
Joseph Robinson Fish Jelly Films (YouTube) Aug 2
4/5
A sobering character study on the perils of avoidance, laced with just enough awkward humor to keep you from crying. Go to Full Review
Jared Mobarak Hey, Have You Seen ...? Aug 1
10/10
This is a haunted house story by way of human truth rather than supernatural horror. Karen mustn’t defeat anything. She must only be willing to let go. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Michael S Aug 19 A riveting psychological study of childhood trauma and its consequences. See more themanicexec Sep 6 potent psychological manifestations filled to the brim with tension, bubbling over with dream symbolism, and laced with acid for the sharpest of tongues. its intricacies make for a fine delicacy, a real feast for the senses. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Aug 1 Success in 1 hour and 57 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Filmed on location in Germany and dubbed and subtitled in the United States of America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dubbed and subtitled in worldwide studios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Read all reviews
The Sparrow in the Chimney

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Movie Info

Synopsis Karen, along with her husband Markus and their children, lives in her childhood home, left behind after the death of her mother. When her sister, Jule, visits with her family to celebrate Markus's birthday, the weekend opens old wounds and past traumas, unleashing repressed feelings that threaten to destroy their relationship and shatter Karen's grip on reality. The latest film from acclaimed writer and director Ramon Zücher (The Girl and The Spider), The Sparrow in the Chimney is a "darkly engrossing psychodrama of pent-up domestic tensions." (Variety) With "deep, bold dives into the nightmarish and the surreal" and a venomously comedic touch, this is the "rare film that feels like a catharsis for protagonist and director both." (The Film Stage)
Director
Ramon Zürcher
Producer
Silvan Zürcher
Screenwriter
Ramon Zürcher
Distributor
Film Movement
Production Co
Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, Zürcher Film
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 1, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 7, 2025
Runtime
1h 57m
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