Agonizing set-’em-up-to-watch-’em-die melodrama starring Nina Hoss in the titular role of Lisa, a brilliant, albeit lapsed playwright who abandoned all artistic endeavors to follow her school teacher husband’s (Jens Albinus) career path from Germany to Switzerland. When her twin brother Sven (Lars Eidinger), a celebrated stage actor, contracts a fast-growing form of leukemia, Lisa throws everything she has into saving his life, while at the same time liberating her long dammed-up creative juices. Her latest endeavor will be an update of Hansel & Gretel. (Subtlety, anyone? ) While on the subject of fairy tales and folks who play make believe for a living, Nina tries to convince Hubby #1 (Thomas Ostermeier), a director of note, to make good on his agreement to cast Sven as the lead in his production of Hamlet. His response gives rise to one of the film’s few moments of genuine insight: “To let a dying actor perform is obscene.” A Hallmark moment arrives when the writing and directing team of Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond choose to prettify the otherwise grave events with a brief interval of rest and relief in the form of parasailing. For those who confuse significant storytelling with being dragged through hysterics, your ship just docked. Now streaming on AngelikaAnywhere.com. (2020) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.