The long, gray January is over and Netflix welcomes February with all kinds of new films and series. In the middle of the month it’s Valentine’s Day and of course the streamer doesn’t forget to celebrate love: the romances and RomComs are already in the starting blocks. Today, however, we’re focusing on the Netflix launches of the day. If you want to know what the coming days and weeks will bring, you’ve come to the right place. An overview of the starts in February can be found here:
From today on Netflix you will find a cross-section of the last 20 years of German film – although the focus is on comedy, drama and tragedy. You have a choice between “Waste Your Youth”, “Change of Position”, “The Middle of the World”, “Emma’s Luck”, “AEIOU”, “Heil” and “Kebab Connection”. Nevertheless, we would like to recommend two to you.
“The Middle of the World” and “AEIOU” on Netflix
In “Die Mitte der Welt”, 17-year-old Phil (Louis Hofmann) returns from vacation and finds himself entangled between the fronts of his mother (Sabine Timoteo) and his sister Dianne (Ada Philine Stappenbeck), who have another violent argument. But Phil does not want to waste his last vacation days and decides to ignore family matters. He spends his last days off with his best friend Kat (Svenja Jung). When Phil meets new student Nicholas (Jannik Schümann) on the first day of school, his whole life changes…
In “Die Mitte der Welt” by director Jakob M. Erwa, we find not only an interesting cast, but also a story that the 4-star FILMSTARTS review describes as “playful, maverick and emotionally gripping”. It sounds like you should give it a shot.
It’s been less than a year since “AEIOU – The Fast Alphabet of Love” hit theaters, so it’s pretty fresh footage. The comedy directed by Nicolette Krebitz (as an actress in “Wolke unterm Dach”) tells the story of 60-year-old Anna (Sophie Rois), who was once an actress but now feels lost and unused. Even her only friend Michael (Udo Kier) can’t really comfort her. Only when she reluctantly becomes a language teacher for 17-year-old Adrian (Milan Herms) does she find hope. The two completely different people fall in love and want to start a new life in France. You only need one thing: money.
In our FILMSTARTS review, “AEIOU” is declared a “wild romantic adventure”.
Detective Conan spin-off The Culprit Hanzawa on Netflix
If you don’t feel like real people and are certainly not interested in German movies, you can still find what you’re looking for on Netflix today. Anime fans can look forward to the “Detective Conan” spin-off “The Culprit Hanzawa”. The 2022 adventure series consists of 12 episodes and revolves around the black silhouette of Hanzawa, who lives a perfectly normal life at first glance. She eats, she showers, she works – and she plans a murder!
4.5 stars for Michael Haneke’s “Happy Ending”
We probably don’t need to introduce the Austrian director Michael Haneke any further. He has made a name for himself internationally with films such as “Caché”, “Funny Games”, “The White Ribbon” and “Love” and his new films are always eagerly awaited. His latest drama “Happy End” comes from 2017 and tells the story of the Laurent family, who became rich with a successful construction company. But financial happiness isn’t everything, and like any family, the Laurents have their share of problems. In the common house, in which several generations of Laurents live, it feels like things are getting tighter and the various disputes threaten to escalate quickly…
FILMSTARTS honors “Happy End” with 4.5 stars and especially praises Haneke’s keen eye for shortages in society as a whole. Here’s the full text: