FILLES

Agnes, a teacher from the Hessian provinces, has come to Berlin to identify a dead girl who might be Lydia, her runaway daughter. It turns out not to be Lydia, but Agnes stays in the city anyway. Still frantically looking for her missing daughter, she comes across a young stray called Ines.

The fourth feature from German filmmaker Maria Speth, this sensorial, expertly textured drama explores the role of absence within a mother-child relationship while ruminating on guilt, family bonds, and the insecurities of pre-adulthood. A modest yet striking gem of realist cinema.