The Family Name (2022)
Directed by Sönke Wortmann
Der Nachname is a German family satire and the sequel to Der Vorname (The Given Name).
Dorothea König neé Böttcher, who also narrates the movie (Iris Berben) invites her two adult children Thomas (Florian David Fitz) and Elisabeth (Caroline Peters) and their respective spouses to their family house on Lanzarote (Spain), where she now lives with her new partner René (Justus von Dohnányi), who also happens to be her adoptive son (main conflict of the first movie). As the family convenes at the house, Dorothea and René break the news that they secretly got married and that worst of all - she changed her family name (I just … this non-conflict patriarchal bullshit broke me). Family hijinks ensue.
Der Nachname is average in every way imaginable:
✅Typical Sönke Wortmann movie, preferring the same cast of actors and characters every single time (the pedantic German, the sexist/homophobic/manly man German, the frustrated intellectual German wife, etc.)
✅Typical vacation comedy with stunning views of the island
✅Typical family satire with the family being broken beyond repair by decades-long miscommunication
✅Typical German comedy which just can’t exist without at least one dick and/or Viagra joke
But in all its average glory, there are some redeeming qualities. The performances are all very good, as expected from this cast, albeit without any stand-outs. Some jokes land, but most of them fall flat, although the kids behind me in the theater seemed to have a great deal of fun, so what do I know?
The homophobia/transphobia/sexism bullshit is dialed way down (in comparison to the first movie and other Wortmann fare) and also countered at every point, which is a big achievement for a German comedy (a very low bar). Finally, some interactions between various family members are heart-felt leading into a heart-warming and sincere message at the end of the movie.
All in all, Der Nachname is a mostly harmless Arrested Development pastiche with a nice message at the end