Nothing Bad Can Happen

Nothing Bad Can Happen (original title Tore Tanzt), the debut feature of director Katrin Gebbe, was inspired by a news article she came across online. It follows Tore (Julius Feldmeier), a young member of Hamburg's underground Christian punk movement Jesus Freaks, who moves in with a family after fixing their car, only for his relationship with the father, Benno (Sascha Alexander Geršak), to curdle into escalating abuse. The film screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it was a finalist for both the Un Certain Regard Award and the Caméra d'Or for best first feature; the screening split the audience, with some walking out and others applauding through to the end. The film holds a 70 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Who it's for: anyone curious about a German debut that split audiences at Cannes while questioning whether unshakeable faith is resilience or vulnerability in the face of abuse. Who it's not for: viewers unwilling to watch escalating, disturbing abuse, since the film confronts that theme directly.