From the outset, intrigue and tension take hold as we surrender to the journey offered by Body of Glass, the debut by German filmmaker Naëmi Ada, which is screening in the New Directors section of the San Sebastián International Film Festival. First, we hear the seemingly ancestral singing of a polyphonic choir, and we are immediately plunged into the violent quarrel between a young couple: a boy abandons a girl on a rocky mountainside at the end of a winding road. This uncertainty and sense of unease accompany us for the rest of the film - and it is one of those movies where the less you know about it beforehand, the better.

Let’s just say that Tian (Soma Pysall), a young and talented dancer, is at the centre of this story. She is the young woman we saw being left alone in the middle of nowhere at the start, and the one who leaves her there is Felix (Manuel Severin), her boyfriend and also the choreographer heading up the dance company where they both work. Their relationship is highly toxic, which becomes apparent in every moment we see them together. Tian is also a German who feels somewhat isolated in Marseille, the city where everything unfolds - a city that, incidentally, Ada makes superb use of, weaving its landscapes and sounds into the film’s complex psychological portrait of its protagonist.

Eager to escape an asphyxiating situation, Tian pretends to be someone else and ends up accompanying a bunch of people grieving for a young man the dancer never knew - and even becoming central to their group dynamics. The premise is outlandish and the path the main character takes is no less so, but the film holds everything together with impressive vigour, leaving the audience with no choice but to watch, stunned and glued to their seats, as events unfold. This stems from the magnificent script by Ada herself, but also from a powerful ensemble in which it is only fair to single out Soma Pysall, who embodies the protagonist with disarming conviction and commitment.

All in all, this is a highly promising debut. It's an original, daring proposition in which every technical and artistic element works with surgical precision. On this emotional, mental and physical journey, themes such as abuse, grief, the creative process, identity and human connection (or the lack thereof) are paraded before our eyes, leaving us with few certainties but plenty of complex food for thought.

Body of Glass is a production by Soilfilm Media GmbH and Soldats. Its international sales are handled by Alpha Violet.