In the opening scene of the modern-dress, German-language production, Hüller stood alone onstage, her hands hanging uselessly by her sides, her eyes downcast. In a trembling near-whisper, she spoke lines that Shakespeare originally wrote for Hamlet’s friend Horatio: “If there be any good thing to be done, / That may to thee do ease and grace to me, / Speak to me.” Hüller smiled faintly to hold back tears, and her voice broke as she muttered, “You are here, you are here.
In the film’s climax, Ines invites colleagues to a team-building birthday brunch at her apartment; when the doorbell rings while she is trying to wriggle out of a too-tight dress, she discards her clothes altogether, then spontaneously—and excruciatingly—informs her boss that he has shown up at a “naked reception.” Ines, an avatar of naked capitalism who is also a loving daughter, is simultaneously reprehensible and winning.