The famous actor Daniel Brühl (Rush, Inglourious Basterds, Good Bye Lenin or Baron Zemo in the MCU), also this week on the poster of The King's Man: First Mission, signs with Next Door his first realization. The actor decides to go behind the camera for the first time with this German comedy where he plays the main character, in an exciting eight against Peter Kurth.
Next Door: a very effective closed eight
It's quite well known, nothing better than a closed eight to start behind the camera. Daniel Brühl has learned his lessons well and is therefore embarking on the direction of Next Door, a black comedy without laughter and cynical, which is inspired by the actor's own life. Daniel Brühl signs an interesting caricature autobiography that takes up some elements of his own life. His character is called Daniel, he is an actor, is preparing for a superhero role (a reference to his role as Baron Zemo in the MCU) and lives between Barcelona, Berlin and the United States (as in his real life). Through this prism the actor / filmmaker has fun playing with the blur between reality and fiction. Daniel Brühl thus leaves his audience in this exciting and cleverly staged uncertainty. 
Even if its realization remains quite classic, Next Door is an exciting eight closed, and rather well conducted. Bruno, the character played by Peter Kurth, is also an imposing and brilliantly written protagonist. The two figures thus offer an impressive verbal joust and an opposition that makes it possible to address many societal themes with relevance and clairvoyance.
Exciting themes
Bruno is a representation of the people, the little people, the common man. The latter thus comes to oppose Daniel, representation of wealth, power and the entire Hollywood system. He comes to stand against the stars, against notoriety, ready to do anything to bend a giant. Daniel Brühl highlights, through this means, and this representation, the relationship between the star and the average man. The director thus addresses many questions. He wonders where everyone's place is, he addresses the desire for an impossible life for some. It also deals with the status of the actor, the image he must convey, the pressure in front of people, in the eyes of others, sometimes very insistent. What are an actor's obligations to the audience? What is its place in society? 
Bruno is also a materialization of Daniel's consciousness. It represents his fears, doubts, stress, hauntings, wounds and mistakes. Through this dialogue, which holds major surprises, Daniel Brühl stages the encounter of his character, a pastiche of himself, with his own conscience. An encounter with himself, in a bar, in his own mind. Next Door is also a way for Daniel Brühl to atone for all his acting pressure, his fears about others, about the nature of his work, and the demands that go with it. He criticizes a whole hierarchy of society that is set in motion by the mysterious Bruno. Daniel Brühl does not hesitate to criticize so discreetly the Hollywood system and its functioning vis-à-vis the actors. While proposing an ending that is distantly inspired by films like Chez moi or The Tenant. In short, for his first attempt, Daniel Brühl is doing wonderfully. Next Door is an intelligent lock-up that confronts an actor with his intrusive neighbor in an almost autobiographical approach. https://youtu.be/atJLKx9EeqU
