This film is part of Rentals
Toni Erdmann
A lonely prankster upends the life of his high-powered daughter in a riotous comedy, deep and sharp.
Director: Maren Ade
Overview
When Winfried’s career-driven, expat daughter Ines pays a flying visit from Romania, the pair’s awkward reunion is incessantly and – from her perspective – gratefully interrupted by work-related calls. Shortly after, Winfried travels to see Ines in Bucharest. The trip doesn’t go well and Winfried decides that his daughter’s life needs a few changes. Or rather, his bewigged, snaggle-toothed alter ego ‘Toni Erdmann’ does. Toni turns up at the worst moments, ambushing and pranking an already stressed Ines at work meetings and social engagements, to ends neither of them could possibly predict.
Cannes 2016’s unanimous breakout hit (causing hardened critics to break out in spontaneous applause, twice), writer-director Maren Ade’s near-three-hour tragi-comedy is as continually surprising, hilarious, exasperating and bizarrely touching as its shambling, mischievous, titular shapeshifter. This belated follow-up to her superb 2009 Berlinale award-winner Everyone Else settles into its own loose-limbed pace and loping rhythms. Consequently, Ade mines so much more than a straightforward domestic drama. By using comedy to probe the disconnect between estranged family members, she explores the demands of the modern corporate environment where everything, even personal ties, are subject to market forces. And as Winfried and Ines, Austrian stage veteran Peter Simonischek and Sandra Hüller (Requiem) give two of the year’s standout performances, in one of its very best films. Since Cannes the film has gone on to receive widespread acclaim, earning nominations from all the major awards - the Oscars, Golden Globes, BIFAs and BAFTA.
strong language, nudity, scene of sexual activity, drug misuse
Related
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
Seven Psychopaths Seven Psychopaths
Comedy 2012 110 mins Director: Martin McDonagh
Three Billboards' director Martin McDonagh spins an epic and twisted tale of pets and gangsters, with an all-star cast.
The Day Shall Come The Day Shall Come
Comedy 2019 88 mins Director: Christopher Morris
An impoverished Miami preacher is lured into terrorism by the FBI, in the latest explosive satire from comedy genius Chris Morris.
Tamara Drewe Tamara Drewe
Comedy 2010 111 mins Director: Stephen Frears
The return of beautiful journalist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) awakens destructive passions in a Dorset village.
The Edge of Seventeen The Edge of Seventeen
Comedy 2016 104 mins Director: Kelly Fremon
Kelly Fremon Craig’s coming-of-age comedy eschews quirkiness for genuine warmth, while boasting a hilarious supporting turn from Woody Harrelson.
Withnail & I Withnail & I
Comedy 1988 107 mins Director: Bruce Robinson
Richard E. Grant steals the show in the indomitable cult classic following two washed-up actors as they embark on a booze-filled getaway to the Lake District.
Bridesmaids Bridesmaids
Comedy 2011 125 mins Director: Paul Feig
Much more than a girls-being-bad comedy, this matrimonial farce finely captures female friendship in all its glory.
Duck Soup Duck Soup
Comedy 1933 69 mins Director: Leo McCarey
The Marx Brothers' lunatic satire of international relations finds Groucho in his his most memorable role as Rufus T. Firefly - leader of Freedonia. A comic masterpiece.
Citizen Ruth Citizen Ruth
Drama 1996 106 mins Director: Alexander Payne
Laura Dern is hilarious an addict unwittingly caught in the midst of America's culture wars, in Alexander Payne's superb first feature - previously unreleased in the UK.
Chasing Amy Chasing Amy
Comedy 1996 113 mins Director: Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith's quirky charmer features an early-career Ben Affleck as the comic-book artist who discovers the girl of his dreams is a lesbian.
The Associate The Associate
Comedy 1996 114 mins Director: Donald Petrie
Whoopi Goldberg plays an investment banker forced to invent a male superior in this unjustly forgotten, feminist workplace satire.
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomy of a Fall
Crime 2023 152 mins Director: Justine Triet
Justine Triet's gripping, Palme d'Or-winning psycho-thriller is deeply intelligent with a spellbinding performance from Sandra Hüller.
Proxima Proxima
Drama 2020 107 mins Director: Alice Winocour
Starring Eva Green, Alice Winocour's Proxima explores the emotional toll of being both an astronaut and a mother.
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
The Ballymurphy Precedent The Ballymurphy Precedent
Documentary 2018 108 mins Director: Callum Macrae
John Pilger's film on the conflict in Northern Ireland is a skilful mix of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflections on contemporary history.
Utopia Utopia
Documentary 2013 111 mins Director: John Pilger and Alan Lowery
John Pilger's portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture is also an investigation into a suppressed colonial past, and rapacious present.
The Coming War on China The Coming War on China
Documentary 2016 113 mins Director: John Pilger
John Pilger’s prescient 60th film for ITV is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.