"Dora oder Die sexuellen Neurosen unserer Eltern" is a Swiss German-language film from 2015, so this one is still relatively new and fresh. It is possibly the most known work by director Stina Werenfels who is also one of the people that adapted play by Lukas Bärfuss. Werenfels is in her 50s right now and before making this film she took a pretty immense break from movie-making that lasted for almost a decade. The most known cast member here is certainly Lars Eidinger, but huge German film buffs may also have stumbled across Jenny Schily already. I think the title of this film is pretty bad they really should just have gone for "Dora" as she is really the character in the center of it all and I personally found the parents part not too convincing for the most part. This is not really the fault of the parents, i.e. the actors, but because of how they were written I guess. Luckily, the story about Dora makes up for it basically. Disable characters in films, especially films about them, are still a bit of a rarity, maybe even a taboo, because it's difficult to get healthy actors to play disabled and because it's difficult to get great performances out of actually disabled actors. But here they did a good job for the most part. I cared for Dora and hoped she would become happy, which is always a crucial ingredient of course. You want to be emotionally involved when watching a film, especially a drama. Yes the film does have some weaknesses, like it drags on some occasions, or the parents part I already mentioned or also the very sub-par ending that almost got me to give this a lower rating. until the final 5 minutes, they managed to stay subtly convincing from start to finish, but eventually they really messed up in a way that almost causes irreparable damage to the film. Luckily, I say "almost". I think the awards attention at the Swiss Film Prize for this film is kinda justified. I recommend "Dora or The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents". Yes the title is pure cringe, but the film behind it is actually a decent achievement if you care for the subject. Just don#t expect greatness beforehand.
