The movie

Natalie and Maxim are off for a weekend in the countryside outside of Berlin with their daughter Flora and Natalie’s sister Stella. The trip is meant to be not only a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, but also the chance for Natalie to talk about her marital problems with her sister. But, things quickly go awry, when the three women awake dazed and confused from a nap to find their clothes ripped to shreds and covered and blood, and no sign of Maxim. What transpired? As they delve deeper into the forest, the mystery grows. As in his second feature, Stefanies Geschenk (1994), Swiss director Mathieu Seiler explores the troubles of adolescence in a dreamlike fashion. The Zurich-born filmmaker juxtaposes the beauty of the visuals with the dark subject matter and looks at a delicate passage in life, without ever becoming voyeuristic. Both atmospheric and breathtaking, Der Ausflug paints a disturbing picture of childhood (and its end), while drawing on the aesthetic of the fairytales it revisits.