MIROIRS NO. 3 [VOD Review]

The latest film from German filmmaker Christian Petzold is available on VOD

Director Christian Petzold’s recent cinematic collaboration with actress Paula Beer (Undine, Afire), Miroirs No. 3, isn’t as straightforward as it might appear. Beer plays Laura, a piano student who is marooned in a rural town after surviving a car crash and refusing further medical care. She asks to stay with Betty (Barbara Auer, The Other Woman, The Book Thief), the woman who found her after the crash. Never mind that she just met this woman… but Betty welcomes Laura into her home.

As days pass, Betty takes care of Laura and they slowly get to know each other. Once Betty invites her husband Richard (Matthias Brandt, Transit) and son Max (Enno Trebs, another Petzold film regular) over for dinner is when it starts to feel like something is off. There’s a piece missing and the audience isn’t exactly sure what it is – although there are hints, like Betty once accidentally calling Laura someone else’s name or owning clothes that might fit the younger woman.

The lighting in Miroirs No. 3 confuses the viewer into feeling this home is warm and welcoming, although we see that it may not be the safe haven that Laura assumes. An unsettling creepiness begins to seep in before Laura and the audience learn why Betty lives alone. The intimacy of the earlier scenes is misleading; Laura feels disturbed by the thought that she might be seen as a replacement or substitute for someone.

Petzold’s films are layered enough to leave this viewer puzzling afterwards and Miroirs No. 3 is no exception. I spent time after my recent watch putting pieces together, such as the Ravel piano piece the movie takes its title from being titled “Miroirs No. 3, Une barque sur l’ocean”; in the opening moments of the film Laura watches a lone man float by on a small boat. Perhaps Laura even feels adrift in her own life and this experience with Betty’s family helps to change that. The ending, after things seem to have figured themselves out, is somewhat mysterious. While this latest work of Petzold’s may not be as visually distinctive as some of his previous films, elements of this quiet title will stay with the audience.

Miroirs No. 3 is currently available to rent via VOD.