The Golden Glove

The story of Fritz Honka, who killed four women in Hamburg between 1970 and 1975. He worked as a night watchman, was an alcoholic, and kept the bodies in his own flat. He met his victims in a bar called The Golden Glove. Fatih Akin adapted Heinz Strunk's novel. Jonas Dassler plays Honka under heavy prosthetics. Rainer Klausmann shot it and F. M. Einheit wrote the music. The Berlin Film Festival screening set the film's course. The response was mostly hostile, with some critics calling it a failed adaptation of the novel and most objecting to how explicitly the brutality is shown. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gave it two stars and attacked the realistic and brutal violence, and David Ehrlich called it disgusting and among the most vile serial killer movies ever made. Meagan Navarro at Bloody Disgusting defended it as a marvel of technical filmmaking. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 54 percent and Metacritic at 38. Who it is for: viewers drawn to the end of serial killer cinema that refuses to aestheticise, and anyone following Akin's filmography as a whole. Who it is not for: almost everyone. The film offers the audience no relief at any point, deliberately.