The 5 best films of Sandra Hüller, German actress in Golden Globe winner Anatomy of a Fall and lauded Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest
- German actress Sandra Hüller is riding high, with 2023 movies Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest lauded at Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globes
- From her 2006 breakout role as a possessed woman to the 2016 comedy Toni Erdmann, the five best films to date of a performer poised to become a household name
It has been a stellar 12 months for German actress Sandra Hüller, whose accomplishments in European cinema are finally garnering recognition on the world stage.
Thanks to her stand-out roles in two of the year’s most celebrated art-house titles – Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, winner of the 2024 Golden Globes for best non-English-language film and best screenplay, and Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest – the 45-year-old from Suhl in eastern Germany is on the brink of becoming a household name.
For those looking to familiarise themselves with the actress’ body of work, these five performances are the ideal starting point.
1. Requiem (2006)
Hüller first came to prominence in Hans-Christian Schmid’s intense drama Requiem, in which she plays a young woman wrestling with a crippling illness. Is it epilepsy or has she succumbed to demonic possession?
Those around her, including her devoutly religious parents and the local clergy are adamant that it is the former, but Michaela (Hüller) becomes increasingly convinced that she has fallen prey to an altogether more sinister affliction.
The film is based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, which also served as the inspiration for the 2005 Hollywood horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Schmid eschews special effects or manipulative techniques, shooting in a stripped-bare handheld documentary style that actively repels any kind of supernatural element.