Despair

The film places its drama in the final years of the Weimar era, when economic hardship and political extremism threatened ordinary lives. The Great Depression intensifies wealth loss and social anxieties, pushing characters to extreme decisions. The era’s cultural vitality contrasts with growing persecution and fear. The time frame anchors the thriller in a historical context of upheaval and uncertainty.

Berlin during the Weimar Republic is depicted as a bustling but precarious cosmopolis on the edge of upheaval. The story follows a fading bourgeois world, where Jewish-owned business faces pressure from the rising Nazi menace. Later the action shifts to Switzerland as Hermann plans a final escape, seeking neutrality and safety away from persecution. The setting highlights a split between urban desperation and aspirational escape.

🪞 Duality

The film centers on the fragile boundary between self and other, with Hermann fantasizing about a double and later enabling a murder-for-hire to erase his existence. Felix’s reluctant participation but true similarity in outward appearance drives the plot’s moral ambiguity. The doppelgänger motif probes whether identity is a construct or a fixed essence.

🌧️ Despair & Survival

Economic collapse and social hostility press hard on Hermann’s family, eroding security and forcing desperate measures. The plot dwells on how individuals cling to fragile schemes to survive—insurance policies, fake deaths, and promises of escape. The mood is bleak, underscored by a sense of unavoidable tragedy.

🎭 Illusion vs Reality

Characters engage in role-play: Hermann as producer of a life, the insurance salesman as deceiver, and Felix as an unwitting Trump card. The claim of filming a real murder blurs lines between cinema and crime, suggesting life imitates art and vice versa. The narrative repeatedly reveals what people pretend to be, and what they fear they are.

🚪 Escape

Hermann’s plan hinges on a hopeful door out of danger: a staged death, a relocation to Switzerland, and a new identity. Yet every escape route collapses under police pursuit and the suspicion of those close to him. The pursuit of safety becomes a chase that exposes the fragility of freedom.