Phoenix

A woman who survived the camps returns to Berlin with her face badly damaged, and after surgery nobody recognises her. She finds her husband; he believes she is dead and does not know who is standing in front of him. He asks her to impersonate his own wife. The film turns that premise into a question about what postwar Germany did with itself: who will admit to knowing what. The narrative draws all its tension from her choosing not to speak. Christian Petzold directed, with Nina Hoss in the lead. It is adapted from a French novel. A real warning: the final scene is much discussed and its effect depends entirely on not knowing it in advance. Watch it without reading about it.