Second Thoughts

When Marie’s boyfriend proposes to her in front of his entire family, she doesn't know what to say and flees to the countryside to think it over alone. But her thoughts accompany her. They sit around her in flesh and blood: Her mother pesters her with baby names, exboyfriends climb down trees and a woman in a sari narrates her life in poems. Her would-be fiancé eventually joins her, clashing his own luggage of thoughts with hers. But what if you show your thoughts to each other? How much honesty can a relationship take? In her first feature, director Zora Rux, an apprentice of Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson, tells a surrealistic story of the search for one’s true self in poetic tableaus.

Directed by Zora Rux, Second Thoughts leans on a strong ensemble — Elisa Plüss, Thomas Fränzel, Henriette Confurius — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 2022.