“Miroirs No. 3” Offers Variations on Catharsis

Miroirs No. 3 (Christian Petzold, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars

German director Christian Petzold (Transit) specializes in films that combine elements of drama and thriller, though the latter feature does not always manifest through big external set pieces. Rather, the adrenaline rush comes from within as a slow build of emotional intensity that forces the viewer to confront uncomfortable truths. In Miroirs No. 3 (the title of which refers to a piano composition by Maurice Ravel), serious trauma may drive the plot, but the narrative unfolds quietly, at a gentle pace. The result is a generally rewarding expiation of demons to which we can all relate, with the actors delivering moving, restrained performances.

Laura (Paula Beer, Never Look Away) is an aspiring pianist who appears unsettled from the get-go, her relationship with boyfriend Jakob (Philip Froissant) already fraught before we understand who is who. On a trip to the countryside with another couple, Laura decides she would rather return home, and as Jakob, annoyed, drives her to the closest train station, their car veers off the road into an off-camera crash. He dies and she survives.

A local woman, Betty (Barbara Auer, Cloud Under the Roof), witnesses the accident and carefully helps Laura to her nearby house, then calls the appropriate authorities. Fortunately, Laura’s injuries are minor, but she seems to be in some kind of shock (hardly surprising). She asks if she can stay with Betty rather than go to the hospital, and the paramedic says that’s fine. Betty agrees, and that’s that.

Except that there is far more to the situation than this simple (if gruesome) setup, as we will soon learn. In a mere 86 minutes—which, given the movie’s tempo, do not feel rushed—Petzold covers quite a lot of storytelling and psychological ground. There’s a reason Betty is so ready to bring Laura home, install her in an upstairs bedroom, and give her clothes to wear that miraculously fit. That same explanation ties into why neither Betty’s husband, Richard (Matthias Brandt, Afire), nor son, Max (Enno Trebs, We Are Next of Kin), live with her, though they are in the region.

Like a piece of music where themes repeat in slightly different variations over time, Miroirs No. 3 proceeds, scene by scene, to carefully unpack the cause and effect of everyone’s occasionally bewildering actions, eventually leading to a catharsis of sorts. At least for Betty’s family; Laura’s own final destination is a little less clear. It may not be Petzold’s most satisfying movie, but even with many questions purposefully left unanswered, the conclusion still allows for much-needed healing.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.