The Serpent’s Egg

The events unfold during the final year of the Weimar Republic, a period of economic turmoil and political extremism. Tensions rise as paramilitary groups threaten armed confrontations and social order frays. The era's instability frames the characters' moral choices and spiraling fates.

Late 1923 Berlin is depicted as a city scarred by postwar hardship and political unrest. The story swings between the bleak outskirts, crowded hospitals, and dingy brothels, highlighting a society on the edge of collapse. The urban landscape and its hidden corners—churches, factories, and abandoned buildings—mirror Abel and Manuela's fragile lives.

🕯️ Trauma

The film centers on postwar trauma that infiltrates daily life, driving Abel toward alcohol, withdrawal, and volatile behavior. Grief over Max’s suicide and the collective wounds of a shattered society intensify mistrust and detachment. The bleak Berlin backdrop amplifies the characters' psychological fragility.

🔬 Ethics and Power

The depiction of hospital experiments and utilitarian justifications exposes how power can override individual rights. The doctor defends cruel studies as beneficial to mankind while victims pay the price in fear and despair. Money, status, and control push people toward exploitation and complicity.

🎭 Identity

Manuela hides her past and navigates social stigma by presenting a respectable facade, while Abel's identity oscillates between former circus star and a man ruined by circumstance. The era's paranoia forces every character to perform roles under threat, blurring truth and performance. The ending implies a possible reinvention or escape from identity.