The ground beneath my feet

This is a gripping, tough movie about the bond between two sisters, focused on the the younger of the two, a hard working business consultant, and how the reality around her erodes as her older sister is treated for mental illness. Valerie Pachner's performance is restrained and subtle. The cinematography is superb, bringing your the cold surfaces of chrome-blue hallways and white institutional walls that contrast with the turmoil that grows within the main character's increasingly tortured psyche. A beautiful, rich film.

A sister's mental health causes an overworked workaholic consultant her own psychological issues as she juggles both in a tale that teaches the lesson there are more important things in life to get distressed about.

A precise film about meaning of life. About work and the steps of profesional succes. About family and the option about priorities. About rivalries, life, falls and fragil balance. And, sure, about abyss, long chain of insecurity and fears anddesire of control, and ignored other. A well crafte story, beautiful performances and direct message.

The German film Der Boden unter den Füssen was shown in the U.S. with the translated title The Ground Beneath My Feet (2019). The movie was written and directed by Marie Kreutzer.

Valerie Pachner plays Lola Wegenstein, a successful businesswoman. Her boss is Elise, portrayed by Mavie Hörbiger. Elise is also Lola's lover.

Pia Hierzegger plays Conny Wegenstein, Lola's sister, who has schizophrenia. Matters reach a crisis when Lola is at the final stages of an important business deal, and Conny makes what may have been a suicide attempt.

The world of high finance is unknown to me. Others will have to tell you how well it's portrayed in the movie. It looks horrible. For example, in her sleep, Lola is talking about "48's." We learn that this means going two days without sleep to work on business.

Although this film contains lesbian lovers, it's really not a lesbian film. In my opinion, it's about a high-level business executive and her sister who suffers from mental illness. The fact that Lola is in a lesbian relationship is important, but not central, to the plot.

All three lead actors are excellent, but I'll single out Pia Hierzegger, as Lola's sister, for special praise. It's a difficult, demanding role, and Hierzegger manages it to perfection.

We saw this film at The Little Theatre, as part of Rochester's wonderful ImageOut Festival. If you can't find it at a festival, it will work on the small screen.

This movie has a terrible IMDb rating of 6.3. I think that it's much better than that, and I feel comfortable recommending it.

This is a story about a talented, ambitious, and highly defended young woman struggling with her humanity and struggling with whether to let others breach her walls. As those walls begin to crumble, so does she.

Let's dispense with the absurd notion that this is a "lesbian" film. Sure, Lola is in a same-sex relationship. But that no more makes this a lesbian film than her being in a business consulting job makes it a business consulting film. There's no indication whether she identifies as lesbian, or bi, or whatever. It doesn't matter. This is a film about being a human being.

I was pleased to see that Valerie Pachner won the German best actress award for this film. She was terrific.

As a viewer, I was left with the same uncertainty about what was really going on that Lola experienced. This diminished only a little on the second watching. I thought that was kind of cool.

Disclaimer: my opinions are backed up by zero expertise in Film as an art form, and far less than the average layperson's knowledge of movies in general.