
Alle Anderen (Everyone Else). 2009. Germany. Written and directed by Maren Ade. With Birgit Minichmayr, Lars Eldinger. 35mm. In German, Italian; English subtitles. 124 min.
Gitti and Chris are vacationing in Sardinia, where they spend most of the time in an emotional tug of war, to sometimes comical, sometimes painful effect. Much like Maren Ade’s subsequent breakthrough Toni Erdmann, Everyone Else perceptively and unabashedly hones in on the discomfort between people who share an intimate bond. For this German couple, a supposedly idyllic Mediterranean holiday ends up laying bare fears, insecurities, and disconnects in an utterly memorable cinematic excavation of contemporary gender roles.