The Light: the story told in Tom Tykwer is, at heart, quite simple and with a skin-deep message: a “typically dysfunctional German family” (mother, father, two kids) gets the help of their new maid, a Syrian woman with many talents. The film has more than its share of techno-psychological mumbo jumbo and a mystical bent, which takes it into pretentious territory. The film, however, veers into the fantastic with a few visually arresting sequences, elevating it somewhat above its material. The performances mostly work: Nicolette Krebitz plays the mother, a freelancer who gives more attention to a project in Kenya she is responsible for than her family; Lars Eidinger plays the father, a marketing guru of some sort who still acts as if he is a leftist provocateur. Julius Gause plays the son, who is focused solely on a VR game he plays, while Elke Biesendorfer plays her twin sister, who seems to do nothing but party with her friends around rainy Berlin. Tala al-Deen plays the gentle and overqualified maid. Cinematographer Christian Almesberger places and moves the camera beautifully, including some beautiful drone shots. Editors Alexander Berner and Claus Wehlisch give the film a rather nice pace. Tykwer and co-composer Johnny Klimek contribute with a fitting musical score.