Barbara: Christian Petzold’s low-key thriller focuses its eyes on a doctor relegated to a small town in East Germany; she is aloof and distant, but her paranoia is well-justified by the realities of the place and time she lives. The film quietly explores those, and the appeal to leave. Nina Hoss gives a great, subtle performance, as the capable and caring doctor who is persecuted for wanting to be elsewhere. Ronald Zehrfeld’s performance as her boss, a doctor who is content with his position and warms to her skills and to her elegant looks. The film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Hans Fromm, the production design of Kade Gruber convincingly recreates the time period, and the editing of Bettina Böhler gives the film a fine pace.