Hell

In the near future, the earth’s temperature has risen by fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Few people have survived. Marie, her sister Leonie and her boyfriend Philip are lucky to have a halfway functioning car—taped with cardboard and newspaper to block out the burning sun. Looking for water reserves, they travel towards the mountains until a stranger joins them. Lured off track, Marie gets kidnapped and finds herself in the care of a matriarch farmer. As she tries to find the others, new alliances have to be made to survive.  

Tim Fehlbaum’s debut feature was executive produced by Roland Emmerich and paved the way for his career in genre filmmaking. Often compared to The Road (2009), Hell’s overexposed cinematography, gritty production design, and its top cast including a still relatively unknown Lars Eidinger prove that Germany can create genre films that blur the lines between post-apocalyptic science fiction and horror.   

Streaming as part of “Spotlight on Genre”, a series revisiting post-war genre films made in Germany. From the post-war era to the present, this collection spans a wonderfully unruly range of genres: cult horror, dystopian science fiction, revisionist Westerns, dark fairy tales, psychological thrillers, rock musicals, and bittersweet social comedies. Whether embracing genre conventions or gleefully dismantling them, these films show how genre filmmaking can explore social anxieties, challenge expectations, and push cinematic boundaries. Discover the unexpected side of German cinema. 

Image © Beta Film/Markus Foerderer, Tim Fehlbaum