The Ordinaries

In a fabulous world, strictly divided into main characters, supporting characters and outtakes, Paula faces the most important test of her life: she has to prove that she has what it takes to be the main character. Paula wants a glamorous life with her own storyline, exciting scenes and full of music - not like her mother, who works as a supporting character in the background. She is top of her class in cliffhangers, masters slow motion and panicked screaming in her sleep - but she just can't manage to create emotional music. In her search for a solution, she comes across inconsistencies about the death of her father, a heroic protagonist. Her investigations lead her to the despised, oppressed 'outtakes', people with movie flaws, shunted off to the margins of society. But instead of dangerous rebels, Paula meets broken characters with real emotions who are trying to survive in an unjust world. Paula begins to doubt herself, her place in history and those who tell it. And suddenly the level of meta-reflection turns into a socially satirical sci-fi parable about injustice, exclusion and resistance... “What a colorful, beautiful world! The first scenes of “The Ordinaries” show film scenes with the flair of the 1950s and early 1960s, with radiant people, bright colors and cheerful music. In short films such as “Pix” or “Kugelmenschen”, but especially in “Out of Frame” from 2016, [Sophie Linnenbaum] had already played with surreal and science fiction elements as well as cinematic meta-reflections. Her graduation film at the Babelsberg Film University, “The Ordinaries”, which has already won numerous awards, impresses from the very beginning with the consistency with which it tells its story between all the usual pigeonholes, with elements of coming-of-age drama, science fiction and social satire, and how it plays through its sophisticated basic idea both on the plot level and visually: a society that is consistently shaped by cinematic categories and at the same time strictly hierarchically organized.” (Patrick Seyboth, on: epd-film.de)