Time of Moulting

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Time of Moulting

2023

1h 22m

Drama

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

89%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

50%

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

The still life of a family in 57 pictures. Germany in the 1970s. Stephanie is an intelligent and lively child. But she leads an isolated life with her parents, marked by a symbiotic bonding with her mentally unstable mother. A mother who has never really left her own childhood behind and who lives amidst things of the past and the memories connected to them. Stephanie's relationship with her father is one of mistrust. The passing years only bring aging, but no future. Unspoken thoughts lurk underneath the surface of everyday life. So Stephanie retreats into a dark world of barbaric fantasies, that are nourished by the traces of the past and only belong to her alone. One day, however, Stephanie's secret invades the family's reality....

Katie Rife

AV Club

Sep 10, 2020

B

The intimations of what might happen once the camera looks away are more chilling and disturbing than what we do see.

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Elizabeth Horkley

Screen Slate

Aug 19, 2026

Mertens’s case study on nature versus nurture acknowledges that blame can be traced along the lines of a family tree. But trees, too, are a product of their environment, and native soil can be poisoned.

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Leslie Hatton

Vague Visages

Feb 7, 2024

It may seem strange to qualify Mertens’ audaciously original production as ‘horror’ when it has no gory set pieces, jump scares, monsters or special effects. Yet, despite a lack of these things, Time of Moulting is very much a horror film.

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C.H. Newell

Father Son Holy Gore

Nov 22, 2022

4.5/5

After watching Time of Moulting it felt like I’d seen something I wasn’t supposed to see, as if Mertens was letting me in on a secret that dared not to be spoken aloud let alone shared.

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Daniel Gorman

In Review Online

Jun 5, 2021

Time of Moulting is horror of a unique but palpable variety, capturing every parent's nightmare: the fear that wrong choices can doom a child to a life of emotional turmoil.

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Alix Turner

Ready Steady Cut

Mar 14, 2021

2.5/5

Eighty minutes of a young girl disintegrating in the lack of warmth from her family. Beautifully produced and performed, but I don't understand the point.

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Tink L

@RT34291435 Aug 30, 2024

This is in my humble opinion an underrated masterpiece. Slow as it is, giving these deep insights into a dysfunctional family using detailed observation of everyday life is both gripping and disturbing. I appreciate it may not be for everyone, but I for one was deeply touched (I won't say I enjoyed it, because it caused emotional pain).

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Ray M

@RT68347257 Aug 7, 2024

I was not impressed at all ! Some people may enjoy it, but I found not much of a story and kept waiting for something to happen. It’s better to say nothing. If you can’t say anything good personally I found it to be a waste of time.

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Mike C

@Mcianci Jun 10, 2023

Fantastic due to character build and pace. Love the peak and valley of shot to after shot.

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Sabrina Mertens

Director

Zelda Espenschied

Stephanie

Miriam Schiweck

Stephanie

Freya Kreutzkam

Mother

Bernd Wolf

Father Reinhardt

Miriam Schiller

Actor

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Synopsis

The still life of a family in 57 pictures. Germany in the 1970s. Stephanie is an intelligent and lively child. But she leads an isolated life with her parents, marked by a symbiotic bonding with her mentally unstable mother. A mother who has never really left her own childhood behind and who lives amidst things of the past and the memories connected to them. Stephanie's relationship with her father is one of mistrust. The passing years only bring aging, but no future. Unspoken thoughts lurk underneath the surface of everyday life. So Stephanie retreats into a dark world of barbaric fantasies, that are nourished by the traces of the past and only belong to her alone. One day, however, Stephanie's secret invades the family's reality....

Director: Sabrina Mertens
Producer: Sabrina Mertens, Vera Paulmann, Jan Fabi, Nadia Zimmermann, Hannah Buhr
Screenwriter: Sabrina Mertens, Sabrina Mertens
Distributor: Dekanalog
Production Co: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Genre: Drama, Horror
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 6, 2023, Limited
Runtime: 1h 22m

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