Yet another film from the festival’s vast F-Rated strand – applied to all films which are directed by women and/or written by women – The Massacre of Anröchte is a black comedy from German filmmaker Hannah Dörr. 

The premise is an appealing one – after a gruesome massacre takes place in the quaint town Anröchte after a gruesome massacre, two city detectives arrive to solve the crime but quickly discover not all is as it seems. The local police seem to be working against them, the teenagers are not to be trusted and there’s a secret lurking beneath the streets. The detectives themselves mostly dawdle and confuse themselves and generally appear closer to existential crises than identifying the murderer. 

The 35mm, boxy aspect ratio gives it a strong Euro arthouse vibe that compliments the surrealist occurrences nicely. At 63 minutes, its absurdist sense of humour manages to retain the film’s charm throughout its runtime. Massacre of Anröchte is a memorable ride and a distinctly singular first-time feature from filmmaker Hannah Dörr.