Yella review

Yella (Nina Hoss) is young, attractive and ambitious, set on quitting her dead-end East German hometown for richer pickings in the West, and her psychotic ex-husband isn’t going to stop her. Not even when he drives them both into the river. In Hanover she meets smooth young exec Philipp (Devid Striesow) and discovers a talent for corporate skulduggery. But strange sounds and sights are haunting her…. Christian Petzold’s twisty drama works variations on the old ‘dead or not?’ plot device explored in cult classics like Carnival Of Souls or Incident At Owl Creek Bridge. If you’re familiar with those you’ll see the ending coming. In fact, chances are you will anyway, since it’s signalled pretty often. Like its heroine, Yella is well-turned-out but chilly; it rarely stirs the emotions, but keeps the attention hooked.