The ten best German films of 2024

My ten favourite German films from 2024 range from family drama and crime to fantasy, horror and intimate love stories. The selection includes both cinema and television films, with very different approaches to memorable characters and difficult subjects.

10. Cuckoo

Tilman Singer's Cuckoo places seventeen-year-old Gretchen in an isolated Alpine resort and creates a modern, unsettling variation on familiar horror elements. Isolation, surreal visions and a sense of lost control keep danger close. Hunter Schafer convincingly develops from vulnerable teenager to fighter, while Dan Stevens makes resort manager Herr König magnetically threatening. The visual design strengthens the psychological effect. It is refreshing, disturbing horror with thematic depth and accomplished craft.

9. 15 Years

In 15 Years, pianist Jenny von Loeben leaves prison after serving time for a murder she did not commit. Syrian refugee Omar persuades her to accompany him in a television talent show. Hannah Herzsprung gives Jenny's divided feelings and attempts to re-enter society impressive depth. Hassan Akkouch brings hope and new energy as Omar. Chris Kraus handles guilt, forgiveness and a new beginning sensitively in a moving drama about justice and a second chance at life.

8. Hagen

Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert give the Nibelungen legend a powerful new perspective in Hagen. Hagen von Tronje's loyalty and moral conflicts take centre stage. Gijs Naber makes those tensions substantial, while imposing landscapes, dark castles and choreographed combat give the film visual force. Its serious engagement with power, betrayal and fate distinguishes it from routine historical spectacle.

7. The Glory of Life

The Glory of Life follows Franz Kafka and Dora Diamant in a quiet, intimate love story. Georg Maas and Judith Kaufmann capture feeling and the fleeting pleasures of Kafka's last phase of life. Sabin Tambrea makes the writer's humour and vitality as convincing as his frailty. Henriette Confurius counters melancholy with optimism and strength as Dora. From Baltic beaches to hospital rooms, the film treats love, illness and mortality with great sensitivity.

6. Sie sagt. Er sagt.

Sie sagt. Er sagt. confronts the difficulty of establishing truth when accounts conflict. Ina Weisse and Godehard Giese play former lovers whose rape case is heard in court. Ferdinand von Schirach's screenplay and Matti Geschonneck's direction make credibility, perception and prejudice central. The performances give weight to opposing perspectives. Its intellectual strength lies in requiring us to question easy certainty and the limits of judgement.

5. Winners

Soleen Yusef's Winners is more than an ordinary sports drama. Eleven-year-old Mona arrives from Syria in Berlin-Wedding and finds refuge in football amid language barriers and isolation. Dileyla Agirman brings vulnerability and strength, while her interactions with the teacher played by Andreas Döhler show the value of individual support. The family, teammates and community feel convincing. Dynamic football sequences join an honest account of starting again in an unfamiliar country. It is inspiring, socially engaged and deeply human.

4. Vena

Chiara Fleischhacker's debut Vena is an unvarnished account of addiction, responsibility and the hope of escaping hardship. Emma Nova makes pregnant Jenny's pain, desperation and desire to provide a better future almost documentary-like. Friederike Becht's midwife Marla adds a moving relationship. Plain, bleak images and a camera close to Jenny reinforce the intensity. Refusing easy solutions makes the film honest and affecting.

3. Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth follows professional criminal Trojan back to Berlin for a daring painting theft. Mišel Matičević gives him quiet intensity and raw energy as the plan begins to slip out of control. I particularly value the dark atmosphere and the sense of isolation. Its very slow pace may test patience, and the sparse dialogue sometimes leaves emotional depth underdeveloped. Even so, this is intelligent, forceful crime cinema with a strong central character.

2. From Hilde, with Love

Andreas Dresen's From Hilde, with Love centres on resistance fighter Hilde Coppi's personal experience during the Nazi period. Liv Lisa Fries conveys strength, courage and her love for Hans Coppi, played by Johannes Hegemann, with exceptional emotional force. The prison scenes are particularly affecting. Dresen joins an intimate approach to the historical setting, making this a film about humanity and love as much as resistance. Its impact lasts.

1. Dying

Matthias Glasner's Dying is the emotional centre of this selection. Conductor Tom Lunies faces the illnesses of his parents Lissy and Gerd in a family drama about love, loss and mortality. Lars Eidinger gives one of his strongest performances, moving between anger, despair and love. Corinna Harfouch and Hans-Uwe Bauer are equally impressive as the parents. Glasner's precise, restrained direction lets those emotional nuances emerge. By making death part of everyday life rather than an abstraction, Dying becomes moving and consoling. It deserves first place.