28/06/2024 - Isabelle Caps-Kuhn’s debut feature follows a couple whose decision to have an open relationship soon has dire consequences

While ostensibly focusing on the effects of an open relationship upon a couple, What You See of Me, the feature debut by Isabelle Caps-Kuhn, which recently had its world premiere at the Raindance Film Festival, soon turns out to be a delicate character study of a person who is unsure of what they want in their life.

Adam (Julius Nitschkoff) and Gwen (Sina Genschel) are a seemingly typical young couple, enjoying the fruits of their young years while still planning for a future that seems far off – plans that involve vague hopes of studying in Paris for photographer Adam and astrophysicist Gwen.

After observing a polyamorous couple, Gwen blithely suggests that they explore an open relationship, to which Adam whole-heartedly agrees. But when, a scant few days later, she discovers that Adam has met a traveller named Hélène, jealousy seemingly begins to consume her. Whilst Adam remains oblivious to her concerns and tries to continue as normal, Gwen finds work as a lecturer and initiates a tryst with one of her students.

But is it really jealousy that Gwen is feeling, or is it something else? As the circumstances of Gwen’s home life are gradually revealed, it becomes clear that there is something else that is causing Adam and Gwen to drift apart.

The entire “polygamy” angle to the film suggests a certain salaciousness, but – a few vaguely raunchy scenes aside – this a remarkably chaste affair. Instead, much of the movie is told from the perspective of Gwen, a character who is hoist with her own petard when she initially suggests exploring an open relationship. Genschel plays her as a person full of inherent contradictions – a person of science and of facts, yet someone who seems unsure and unclear about what she wants from the world around her. There’s a well-played undercurrent of naivety with a hint of arrogance in her performance. Nitschkoff initially seems to embody the simplistic tropes of the “slacker who just wants to sleep around”. But it’s a more subtly complex performance than that, especially if we consider that much of his behaviour is filtered through the perception of Gwen.

Certainly, it’s mentioned in the film that an open relationship allows you to look at your partner with a new perspective: but it’s this new perspective that makes the flaws in their existing relationship apparent, not the concept of an open relationship in itself.

There’s a slight sense of theatricality to the movie. While this makes it feel a little flat at times, it does work well with the characters unsure of what their roles should be in life and adds a tad more ambiguity into this exploration of generational angst.

What You See of Me was produced by German production company Narrative Way and the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg.