Lara: director Jan-Ole Gerster embraces how unpleasant and unsympathetic his protagonist is, as he shows one particularly special day of a retired public worker and the relationship with her family, in particular her pianist son. She is not quite hateful, and as the film unfurls the extent and reasoning for her behaviour are explored, but the whole experience, much like herself, is quite cold, albeit mildly interesting. Corinna Harfouch, as the eponymous character, gives a quiet but fine performance; the rest of the cast is also operating in the same key, and there’s not anything much remarkable one way or another. The film has a very proper and solid look, giving it all a neutral feel.