I have loved every Christian Petzold that I’ve seen: Jerichow, Barbara and Phoenix. When I watched these films, I was interested in the film then realized that he directed them. When I saw the preview for Transit, I wasn’t into it, but Petzold’s name finally stuck, and I was tremendously excited to see it albeit confused how it could be marketed as a World War II movie, but clearly with a contemporary setting. I should have trusted my instincts and not the name because I absolutely hated Transit.

The marketing completely sabotages Transit. Do not call it a movie set in World War II when it isn’t a movie set in World War II. It leads to confusion and completely undermines what the movie is trying to do, which is transpose the dangers of that time to our time in a quotidian and familiar way so the threat feels visceral and urgent instead of historical and distant. The movie is not set in World War II though it deliberately exploits the similarities with WWII. German troops are invading France. Jewish people are most vulnerable. People talk about cleansing, which sounds like the term that was used instead of gassing. The uniforms worn by troops are familiar and modern. The places are clearly contemporary to our time. This movie is not a period piece. It is set during our time, but the threat is unfamiliar because while the threat resembles Nazis, they aren’t specifically Nazis in this film (in the real world is a different story), just a general sense of danger.

I am riveted by dystopian stories with fascist themes, and sadly such stories are urgently germane to today’s viewers, but the world has to be complete and compelling. Transit’s world was compelling, but incomplete, and it angered me. Petzold usually roots his characters and stories in German history, which gives it texture and nuance to the personal story being told. We are oriented and know what specific pitfalls exist. If you’re a woman in Eastern Europe post World War II, the constant, authorized violation of your body to an invasive search makes sense if the viewer knows that she tried to escape. We know the absurd rules being violated and can deeply empathize with that character. Many directors decide to venture outside of their genres and try something new, which I applaud, but Petzold tried to go full sci-fi and explore an alternate dystopian history timeline in a lazy fashion. Also I’m not sure if leaving his native land added to a level of discomfort that he ordinarily does not have in his films.

Transit has no such grounding. The main character is like the star of a pinball machine bouncing from errand to errand, not seemingly invested in any of them, indiscernible relationships to the people asking him to carry out these duties, but clearly deeper than his later relationships because he is willing to do what they ask, risk some danger to do so, and they clearly have a history before the movie starts. We understand that he is undocumented so the authorities could seize him, but he is also German with German troops invading. Unlike other characters, he never says that he is Jewish, but he is clearly in danger just because. When he finally gets invested in people that he clearly has less of a connection to than those that we saw him interacting with at the beginning of the movie, it seems baffling. Why, especially the second one?

I intellectually understand that Transit is trying to say something about human relationships and identity in the face of inhuman threats, lack of stability and restlessness caused by circumstance, but the vagueness and lack of specificity of the characters and the story, which may be the point, means that I don’t care. Refugee and undocumented people’s stories are not like that. I may not be either, but the stories and the obstacles are very clear. The rules may vary depending on the individual, and what that person’s risk tolerance is, but those specifics give the story a texture and create empathy, which is lacking in this story. This story is too philosophical and theoretical for my tastes.

As a story, I did not like the choice to use narration delivered by a character that we don’t meet until later in the movie. It further alienated me from becoming absorbed in the protagonist’s story. If the narrator isn’t the protagonist, it better be someone important to the plot otherwise it just feels as if the filmmaker gave up trying to depict a character’s inner life and would rather tell us, which is a fatal weakness. The Lobster is the best use of narration that I have seen in a film. It also didn’t help when the narration did not match what was unfolding on screen. Just change the words!

Also I may be spoiled after watching The Handmaiden, but we really need subtitles to distinguish when translating from different languages to the target audience’s language because French and German are spoken in the film. When a German person is speaking French, sometimes it is hard to immediately tell that it is actually French, but this point was extremely important in the story. If language is a pivotal plot point, invest in subtitles that make the distinction. You can simply use different colors. It isn’t that hard.

I also didn’t like most of the characters in Transit. I didn’t like the central character in Phoenix, but I could understand her even if I disagreed with her, and I loved the movie. Maybe the key to liking Petzold’s movies is Nina Hoss, who is one of the best actors alive. I’m not knocking the quality of the performances in this movie, but while individually they may have done a great job, as a whole, it doesn’t work. A couple of the actors looked so familiar to American actors that I couldn’t completely let go. Franz Rogowski resembles Joaquin Phoenix. Barbara Auer seemed like a cross between Diane Weist and Marcia Gay Harden/Jeanne Tripplehorn. Maybe let an American play an American official.

I could be a cold person, but let’s have a frank moment to examine the actual relationships in this movie as if they were relationships in the real world.

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Transit imbues Georg with the psychological attachments of the dead men that he meets. It works when applied to a random kid because if you’re not a psychopath, the average person theoretically wants a kid to be happy and safe, but for me, it failed spectacularly when it came to Marie.

How did Marie escape being the muse for Bell Biv Devoe’s Poison? Paula Beer plays her sincerely and not like a mercenary, but her character’s overall actions and men’s reaction to her seems bananas. She leaves her husband for a pediatrician, but wants to find her husband. Huh? It seemed like she just wanted to find him to get the visa, but after she gets the visa, she is still looking for him so no. The minute that the pediatrician leaves, she and Georg make out then when the doctor returns, she goes back to the pediatrician. They all kind of know that she is juggling all these dudes, but want her anyway. It isn’t an open relationship so why are these men willing to literally die for her? Georg, you just met her, and you never hit a homerun. You don’t get to be in love with her and willing to sacrifice your life for theoretical hotness. One guy was openly laughing in my theater as she kept thwarting plans to save her. She better be a ghost because why would she come back? None of this makes sense. I know there is a moment in the story where Georg finds real life more aggravating than stories because in stories, you are privy to a character’s history and inner thoughts. Georg, don’t watch this movie! We’ll be aggravated together. I was sick of these people. Casablanca called to stunt on you fools. People don’t act like this without getting angry with the woman.

Also for people who characterized Georg and the doctor’s relationship as a friendship, were you watching the same movie, and is your life incredibly awful? Get better friends because that wasn’t a friendship! They instantly didn’t like each other and had a begrudging connection. Dear doctor, why are you trying to make this man feel bad for leaving the kid that he met yesterday? You just met the kid yesterday. Are you going to risk it all for him? I didn’t think so. That doctor knew that he was trying to steal his girl, but she is a cheater. This problem isn’t going away.

Dear mom, why are you totally not alarmed that some random man keeps appearing in your house and playing with your kid? If this story is supposed to be set now, that would not be cool. Between Leaving Neverland and Surviving R. Kelly, no one is letting their kids get near strangers.

Transit was a huge disappointment. I was so excited to finally see a Petzold film on the big screen, but it was the first of his films that I actually didn’t like. Ugh. It was a waste of time and money. Skip it.