Berlin Syndrome

Berlin Syndrome (2017) is Cate Shortland's psychological thriller, ready to watch online on iFILM. Clare, an Australian photojournalist travelling alone, drifts through Berlin with no fixed plan until she meets Andi, a charming local English teacher.

A walk through the city, a long night of talking, then sex. The next morning Andi leaves for work and Clare finds the door locked from outside and the windows sealed. At first it reads like a careless mistake. Soon she understands the truth: he prepared for this, and he never intends to let her go. The flat in a half-empty building becomes a cell, and her polite, smiling host becomes a captor who genuinely believes he is in love.

Teresa Palmer carries nearly the whole film as a woman hunting for a crack in someone else's obsession, while Max Riemelt makes Andi frighteningly ordinary. Shortland directs it slow and quiet, with little blood, letting the dread live in domestic detail. Stream Berlin Syndrome (2017) online on iFILM.