Victoria film review ★★★★★

After the success of Iñarritu's Oscar-winning Birdman, the movie watching world reeled at the notion of a feature film taking place in one single take. But unlike Birdman, the single-take effect in Victoria isn't a cinematographic trick: the whole film was shot in one two-hour long, uninterrupted sensation.

While you might expect this stunt to have a gimmicky effect, the final product is an extraordinary thriller whose technical innovation and reeling momentum makes it difficult to forget.



Director Sebastian Schipper's unique film stars Laia Costa and Frederick Lau and follows Victoria, a Spanish woman who has recently moved to Berlin. Working in a local cafe, Victoria knows no one and speaks no German. When one night she befriends a group of young men, Victoria finds herself embroiled in a criminal underworld and what follows is a gangster-style thriller as Victoria she is dragged along with the group and embarks on a romance with one of its members.

Victoria's immersive effects are achieved not only by the real-time events but also by its naturalistic dialogue: writer and director Sebastian Schipper made the film from a script of twelve pages, which acted merely as a basis for improvisation: the result looks to be utterly unique. Tense, exhausting and euphoric, Victoria leaves audiences feeling as if they've just been on a wild night out in central Berlin rather than watching its drama unfold in the safety of the cinema.

The film has been heaped with awards: Victoria was awarded the Silver Bear at this year's Berlinale for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for Cinematography, and also received the German Film Award for Best Feature.

Victoria will be released on UK cinemas on 29 April.