"Freddy/Eddy" is a German movie from 2016 made by Tini Tüllmann briefly before her 40th birthday and she originates from the sound department and this film was her first full feature film as both director and writer. For that, the outcome of this 95-minute film is not a disappointment at all. The cast she managed to sum up here is also fairly impressive and at times as good as it can be for a German movie. With that I am referring mostly to Jessica Schwarz, Burghart Klaußner and Katharina Schüttler. The latter by the way combines attractiveness with talent like nobody else in Germany right now I believe for me. There are more familiar faces like Stadlober for example. The lead actor is Felix Schäfer and I must say I am not too familiar with him at all. Not one bit. But he was good. He is in every scene really and sometimes twice as he also plays his own character's evil twin brother, so it was necessary for him to shine and not break the film and most of the time he did. By the way, is it just me or is there a striking resemblance between him and the young Johnny Depp? Anyway, for me it was a really close call here this film between being a good and not good watch, between a positive and negative recommendation. I think at its core this film worked out nicely. It is the story of a man (an artist) who lost not only his family, but also his reputation and professional standing because of a courtroom decision that he severely beat up his wife. But there are never really doubts he is innocent, or at least he was in a mental state when he did it that he cannot be blamed for.
The latter is when the title comes into play. The main character is Freddy, but his doppelgänger is Eddy and basically everybody including his therapist (played by Klaußner) thinks Eddy is just something he made up in his mind because he has a split personality and Eddy does basically everything Freddy is not brave enough to do. Funnily, that is also how Eddy describes himself later on. And these actions do not always have negative consequences, such as the one that ended the marriage, but also for example the final interaction with Schüttler's character that resulted in something good for him professionally, but may have pushed people further away from him too once again. It's up to you to decide if it is positive or negative. Freddy's initial reaction to what Eddy did was delight and relief. So he is drawn in by the bad version of himself initially before eventually realizing that there is no positive hope for him if he does not cut loose from Eddy. Sadly, this is also where the problems start. A shoddy (indicated) child abuse plot idea is not helping matters at all and there are more flaws in the background story like when we find out Freddy had his imaginary friend Eddy when he was young, but that one was really just imaginary apparently and still there is a real version out there. And always was. Another problem is that Schwarz' character was so pointless and embarrassingly written that it was almost painful to watch. If that scene in the snow was her highlight, then that says it all in a negative sense. I like her and she is so much of a better actress than what she can show us here. Even her film daughter added more overall and like I said earlier I was not a fan of her story line at all. As for the revelation at the end, it was a bit predictable. They sacrificed the best friend for that and that was an okay and kinda brave idea, but not one that they managed to elaborate properly on either sadly. The plot twist at the very end was good, but even there they initially seemed to manage to walk the fine line, but then at the insane ward when we see the tricked Freddy, it is also again over the top. Butg the film and also said plot twist at the ending really reminded me of the recently very successful blockbuster movie "Us" to an extent where I even wonder if Peele has seen Freddy/Eddy. I mean it's not that simiar where you would have to wonder about copyright or anything, especially as here only one character has an evil twin and that is from burth not later on, but still. Back to this one here, the camera work was good, the script was okay with some major flaws though. I am a bit surprised that it receoved so much awards recognition, not because it is horrible or anything, but because the genre did not seem like one that would attract so much love from festivals and awards bodies. But it did. Does not mean it was a success though and to me nothing stays memorable and with a bit better focus and attention to detail in writing this could have been a really good outcome. But the way it actually turned out, I give it a thumbs-down and almost nothing stayed memorable except the Klaußner sessions that I really sucked in being a great fan of the actor. If you are not, then skip these slightly over 1.5 hours and watch something else instead.
3 out of 7 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
