KinoTage: Simon Verhoeven - Oh, This Unspeakable Void

A charming tragicomedy about a young aspiring actor caught between grief, the absurdities of drama school, and the eccentric world of his grandparents.

At the age of 20, Joachim is unexpectedly accepted into the renowned Otto Falckenberg Drama School school in Munich and moves from Northern Germany to Bavaria and in with his eccentric grandparents, the once renowned actress Inge and the philosophy professor Hermann, who reside in a villa near the Nymphenburg Palace Park. As he gets to know their curious, often alcohol-infused daily rituals, he is struggling to find meaning in the no less bizarre acting exercises at drama school. Still morning for his brother who died in a car accident and suspended between the two worlds of his current life, he very much feels at odds with the life. After Sonia Heiss’s When Will It Be Again Like It Never Was Before (Wann wird es endlich wieder so, wie es nie war, 2023), this is the second adaptation based on Joachim Meyerhoff’s successful autobiographical novel series and solo stage performances, All the Dead Fly Up (Alle Toten Fiegen Hoch). The title is taken from a line in Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther: “Oh, this unspeakable void, which I feel in my bosom!” (also translated as "Alas! the void, the fearful void..."). It refers not only to the loss of Joachim’s beloved brother, but also to his struggle to find himself and his place in the world. Director Simon Verhoeven strikes a fine balance between Joachim’s sorrows and the comic absurdities he encounters. In this, he is supported by outstanding performances from Bruno Alexander in the lead role, as well as Senta Berger, Verhoeven’s mother, as Ingrid, and Michael Wittenborn as Hermann.

Germany 2025, colour, 137 mins. With English subtitles.
Directed by Simon Verhoeven. Based on the novel by Joachim Meyerhoff. With Bruno Alexander, Senta Berger, Michael Wittenborn, Anne Ratte-Polle, Tom Schilling, Karoline Herfurth, Laura Tonke, Devid Striesow, Moritz von Treuenfels and Kerstin Thielemann.

Awards

German Film Awards 2026: Lola in Bronze for Best Feature Film as well as Lolas for best female lead (Senta Berger) and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Wittenborn).


About Simon Verhoeven

Simon Verhoeven was born in Munich in 1972, the son of actress Senta Berger and director Michael Verhoeven. After studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and at Berklee College of Music in Boston, he was accepted to NYU’s renowned Tisch School of the Arts, from which he graduated in 1999. His first feature-length film as a director, writer, and composer, 100 Pro, was nominated for the Förderpreis Deutscher Film. Between 2003 and 2009, he focused on acting before returning to directing with the comedy Men in the City (Männerherzen, 2009), followed by Men in the City 2 (Männerherzen... und die ganz, ganz große Liebe, 2011).
In the following years, Simon Verhoeven successfully directed commercials and advertising campaigns for various major German corporations. His next feature film was the thriller Unfriend, which opened in German cinemas in January 2016. Verhoeven’s social comedy Welcome to Germany (Willkommen bei den Hartmanns, 2016), about a German family taking in an African asylum seeker, was a major success and won several awards. For Amazon Prime Video, Verhoeven created the documentary miniseries FC Bayern – Behind the Legend (2021). His subsequent feature films include Girl You Know It’s True, a satirical tragicomedy about the rise and fall of the legendary pop duo Milli Vanilli, and the social satire Old White Man (Alter weißer Mann). Oh This Void, This Unspeakable Void (Ach diese Lücke, diese entsetzliche Lücke) was released in German cinemas in 2026 and was highly successful with the German cinema audience. At the 2026 German Film Awards, it received three awards, including the Lola in Bronze for Best Feature Film.

About Joachim Meyerhoff

Joachim Meyerhoff was born in Homburg, Germany, in 1967, and grew up in Schleswig in Northern Germany. He studied acting at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich from 1989 to 1992. Subsequently, he had engagements including at the Staatstheater Kassel, Theater Dortmund, Bühnen der Stadt Köln and the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. From 2002 to 2005, he was a member of the ensemble at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and, from 2005 to 2019, at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He has collaborated in particular with Jan Bosse, Sebastian Hartmann and Herbert Fritsch, as well as with Jürgen Gosch, Stephan Kimmig and Barbara Frey, among others. His accolades include the Nestroy Prize and the Rolf Mares Award for his portrayal of Arnolphe in The School for Wives (Die Schule der Frauen , directed by Herbert Fritsch, 2014). In 2007, the Theater heute magazine critics’ jury voted him Actor of the Year; in 2017, he won the title again for his performance in Die Welt im Rücken (directed by Jan Bosse). In the same year, he was admitted into the Academy of Arts in the Performing Arts section. In addition to his work as an actor, Joachim Meyerhoff is also a writer. The first three parts of his series All Dead Fly High (Alle Toten Fliegen Hoch) were invited to the 2009 Theatertreffen in Berlin and have been published as novels. Three further parts have been published as novels only. He was member of the Berlin Schaubühne ensemble from 2019 to 2024 and is now a guest performer at the theatre. (Source: Münchner Kammerspiele, edited)