As modern-day Paris is invaded by foreign troops, Georg (Franz Rogowski) assumes the identity of a recently deceased German author and flees to Marseille. Soon after his arrival he meets Maria (Paula Beer), a young woman searching for her missing husband.

Petzold inventively adapts Anna Seghers’ 1944 novel, transforming it into a timeless and harrowing labyrinth of upheaval, effortlessly combining existential thriller with melancholic melodrama. Anchored by two astonishing performances by Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer, the final part of Petzold’s Love in the Time of Oppressive Systems thematic trilogy is a foreboding exploration of Europe’s past and present.