Based on a popular German-language novel, Austrian director Julian Pölsler’s low-key drama sees a middle-aged woman (Martina Gedeck) become isolated in the mountains when an inexplicable forcefield appears.
The sci-fi premise seems preposterous, but get beyond that and Gedeck’s predicament absorbs, as she struggles to retain the means and will to survive, accompanied by her pets and a pregnant cow.
The story is slow-paced and eventless but the cinematography makes the most of the landscape, while voiceover diary readings give us access to her thoughts.
