Cocoon

A very hot summer in Berlin. Fourteen-year-old Nora is always the third wheel to her older sister Jule and Jule's friend Aylin; she listens to their talk, follows them around, and has nothing of her own. Then she meets Romy at school. A friendship starts and for the first time Nora is inside something she chose. That same summer the caterpillars she keeps in her room are getting ready to leave the cocoon. Leonie Krippendorff could have told adolescence without the metaphor, but she does not make the cocoon a burden; the image runs mostly through phone cameras, sweat and the heat of asphalt. The Kreuzberg district of Berlin is used as a character of the narrative in itself. Lena Urzendowsky plays Nora and Jella Haase plays her sister. The film screened in the youth section of the Berlin Film Festival in 2020. Who it's for: Viewers who like queer coming-of-age narratives, German independent cinema, and summer films. Who it's not for: The narrative follows a familiar path with few surprises. The metaphor is also too plain in places.