San Francisco IndieFest 2025 Coverage
Traumnovelle review
Traumnovelle isn’t a remake of Eyes Wide Shut. But it can’t escape its shadow.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Traumnovelle
Directed by Florian Frerichs
Written by Florian Frerichs and Martina van Delay
Starring Nikolai Kinski, Nicole Nagel, Laurine Price, Nike Martens, Detlev Buck, Patrick Molleken and Rodney Charles
Traumnovelle Review
Watching Traumnovelle is a strange experience. At least it will be if you are familiar with Stanley Kubrick’s final film Eyes Wide Shut. Traumnovelle adapts the same source material that Kubrick chose for his last project. It’s a pretty famous movie…what with stories about a yearlong shoot, then real life couple and mega-stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman…and the legendary director dying before its release…leaving the final edit in the hands of someone else. While this isn’t a remake by definition…it can’t help but feel like one. That’s a large shadow to operate under. Especially when your adaptation of the 1926 text sets the story in modern day…just as Kubrick’s film did.
You might spend your time watching Traumnovelle wondering what director Florian Frerichs saw in the material that needed to be expanded upon or tackled in a different way. You’ll probably come away from watching Traumnovelle thinking that Kubrick adapted the story well enough the first time. That’s not to say that this isn’t a fine film in its own right. It’s a well-made, well-acted movie. Unfortunately, the choice to make it leaves the most intriguing aspect of the ordeal wondering why.
Frerichs’ adaptation is more in your face with its sexual content. What’s missing though is what made Eyes Wide Shut work to the extent that you might consider it did. The frustration and misplaced jealousy in Kubrick’s film lends it a pervasive feeling that is difficult to shake. It colors every scene in the picture. Traumnovelle never feels as desperate or dangerous as Eyes Wide Shut. Jakob (Nikolai Kinski) wanders around Berlin in search of sexual excitement that feels more curious than Cruise’s character in 1999. His actions don’t feel as passionate or retaliatory. Almost as if he’s owed something instead.
Kinski is asked to carry most of Traumnovelle on his shoulders. He’s quite good. Even though it often seems he’s walking down a path already taken…Kinski approaches it with fresh eyes. The film even throws in an occasional unexpected narrative trick to shake off the familiarity. Narration, an animated interlude…even a fourth wall break. These moments attempt to jolt the viewer from that feeling of sameness that Traumnovelle’s adaptation struggles to shake. The story is easier to follow here than it was in Kubrick’s film. Though, one wonders…how much of that has to do with seeing the story play out before.
The major beats from Eyes Wide Shut are all present and accounted for. Frerichs’ adaptation is said to stick closer to the source material…which means Kubrick didn’t stray that far either. It’s difficult to assess how much your thoughts of Traumnovelle will be affected by Eyes Wide Shut’s existence. It feels colder…which is hard to believe given how Kubrick’s films operate. It also feels closer. You experience this strange night with Kinski in a way that feels more immediate than it ever did with Cruise. But the frustration…the desire…the passion that made Eyes Wide Shut tick…that all feels lessened here. Colder…and more predictable…likely because we’ve seen this adapted before.
Traumnovelle is a tough movie to review. It’s impossible to remove the memory of Kubrick’s adaptation from your mind. It’s hard for another one to get a fair shake. But it’s important to understand that Traumnovelle isn’t a remake of Eyes Wide Shut. They are two plants sprouted from the same seed. The story is what matters. Traumnovelle tells the story fine. Kinski creates an interesting enough lead to follow. I didn’t feel the urgency here that I did with Kubrick’s film…but that doesn’t mean that you won’t connect with it in a more intimate way.
Scare Value
After watching Traumnovelle I was left with the same question I had before starting it. Why adapt the same story as Stanley Kubrick’s famous final film? I never quite figured it out. Take nothing away from the work Frerichs and Kinski put in here…Traumnovelle is a fine film. With fresh eyes…it may even be a good one. In the end, however, you may be left feeling like you’re watching a remake. It’s an unfair thought. But one that Traumnovelle struggles to shake.
