Off Season

Judith’s boyfriend Gregor surprises her with a holiday at a spa hotel in Sicily that he hopes will help her relax from work. But off-season, the hotel feels dead and offers little in the way of distraction beyond a tennis court and some empty wicker beach chairs. The couple’s relationship is going through a rough patch and Judith is not really in the mood for a holiday, so the calls from her father’s company are a welcome diversion. It is the last couple of months before the birth of their child, but Judith does not see why impending motherhood should impair her life. Gregor’s expectations of their future as a family and the pressure this exerts on Judith only serve to increase the distance between them. Judith feels that she can no longer act freely. Their last few days at the resort turn into a power struggle about the possibility of reconciling family, career and self-determination. (Berlinale)