"What is stylistically striking about this year's crop of up-and-coming German-language films is the use of cinematic language from the genre film canon. In numerous films, there are sometimes more, sometimes less clear references to western films, horror, mystery and police thrillers. While the films may correspond to drama, comedy or coming-of-age in terms of dramaturgy and subject matter, they are increasingly told using the means of the genre. 
The clear and stereotypical black-and-white of the Western film, the explicit of the horror film - in the form of sometimes exploitative, sometimes dramaturgically legitimized depictions of violence - or the culture of fear cultivation of the thriller are excellently suited to address socio-political aspects of our time without directly narrating them. After being nurtured by directors like Dominik Graf, Christoph Hochhäusler and Christian Petzold, the means of the genre film, long considered superficial and popular, are finally firmly installed in the toolbox of the new generation of directors. But to what extent do they also reflect the pulse of the times?" (Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival)