Miroirs No. 3

Audience Reviews

View More

Wayne M @Wayne93 Sep 22, 2026 Miroirs No. 3 is a fascinating and intriguing film, even if it doesn't fully deliver. German director Christian Petzold makes very interesting films though and he has done so again here. The film focuses on music student Laura, who is involved in a car accident in the German countryside, killing her boyfriend. She is taken in by Betty, who lives alone, who looks after Laura and nurses her back to health. She soon meets Betty's estranged husband Richard and their adult son Max. We find along the way that there are several secrets in the family and a fair amount of tragedy. The film moves slowly and there is little plot, but it's mostly fascinating to watch. Sometiems though it does feel a little inert and hard to connect with. Paual Beer is superb though as Laura and it's definitely a film worth your time. See more Kevin L @Lakeman Sep 21, 2026 This is the 2nd straight Petzold film I've been less than awed by. It seems like the reveal here is supposed to be bigger or have a more significant effect than it did for me. But it was already hinted at already in Betty slipping & calling Laura by another name early on, along w/ her general affected demeanor. Beer is terrific as usual, but all four of the main players deliver the goods as the injured, unsettled music student & the family that she stays with after early incident. Auer is esp. strong, having great chemistry with Beer. But the story line was thin & never really develops into more than a simmering stew rather than a boiling brew that lifts the cinema experience as much as Petzold's finest work. But there are some very fine, affecting scenes. 3.2 stars See more Alain E @AlainE Aug 2, 2026 Characteristic of a great filmmaker the story here could be summarized in three or four sentences. The way it is narrated though it holds our attention for the duration. This is a movie about sadness and loss, but eventually the protagonists discover a way to continue living. On Mubi. See more Henry D @Henry_Domke Jul 19, 2026 Rotten Tomatoes got it right in calling this a "hushed, enigmatic psychodrama" that "simmers with mystery and mood." It was enjoyable to enter these people’s lives, gradually piece together what had happened, and try to understand their motives. The film never explained too much, which made its quiet tensions and shifting relationships all the more absorbing. See more MB C @MB.Cinema Jun 26, 2026 After surviving a fatal car accident, Laura finds refuge in a stranger’s home, where grief and identity begin to blur. The film trades plot twists for mood, building its story through silence, symbolism, and fragile human connections. Strong character work and recurring motifs of water and reflection give it emotional depth. Its slow pace and heavy ambiguity may not appeal to everyone. Still, it’s a thoughtful, meditative experience that lingers long after it ends. See more Justin T @RT20830295 May 26, 2026 There are few safer bets in cinema than a new Christian Petzold film. He often begins quietly, already mid-stride, with an almost imperceptible undercurrent of menace, like a slow-burn thriller whose central mystery gradually reshapes everything around it. With "Miroirs No. 3," Petzold pares his storytelling down to the bond that develops between two women after a devastating car accident, only to reveal an emotional abyss beneath it that gives the film’s quiet tenderness the weight of genuine loss. The title comes from Maurice Ravel’s piano suite "Miroirs," specifically its third movement, "Une barque sur l’océan" ("A Boat on the Ocean"), a drifting, mercurial composition built around undulant motion that feels designed for Petzold’s cinema, whose characters often resemble small vessels drifting across unstable currents. The ending, for all its quiet grace, didn’t initially land quite where I expected — or perhaps hoped. Only later did the director’s intentions come into focus. See more Read all reviews

Miroirs No. 3

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING