When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before

Sonja Heiss's 2023 German film is adapted from Joachim Meyerhoff's autobiographical novel. Joachim is the youngest son of the director of one of Germany's largest psychiatric hospitals, and his childhood takes place on its grounds. The patients feel like family to him. The film's idea is to invert the question of whose mind is considered sound. The patients treat Joachim more kindly than his two older brothers do; the real tension is inside the family. His mother paints watercolours, his father is absorbed in the institution and the brothers are merciless with each other. The humour is dry and does not come from situation comedy; most scenes are funny and sad at once. In the final section the tone hardens and the family faces a loss. That transition is unexpectedly effective. Who it's for: those who like autobiographical German drama and films that run family comedy and sorrow together. Who it's not for: viewers who would find a psychiatric institution shown in a light frame troubling; the film draws humour from there too.