Angst (1928) Review - A very stressful silent movie about secrets

If you are in the mood for an old-school silent movie about guilt, this one is actually pretty good. It's not one of those super famous ones everyone talks about, but it works if you like watching people get really nervous. 😰

The plot is basically this: Inge goes on vacation to the French Riviera, makes a mistake with a painter, and then spends the rest of the movie freaking out because someone caught her.

I watched this late at night and honestly, the blackmail scenes are so stressful. You can almost feel her heart racing through the screen.

Inge is played by Valerie Boothby and she looks like she is about to have a heart attack in every scene back in Berlin. Her eyes just get wider and wider as the movie goes on.

Her husband is a big-shot lawyer which is just... really bad luck for her, right? Imagine coming home to a guy who literally argues for a living while you are hiding a secret like that. ⚖️

The painter, Francard, is kind of a tool. He has this mustache that just screams "I am going to ruin your life for a bit."

There is this one scene where Inge is at a party and she thinks she sees the blackmailer in the crowd. The camera lingers on her face for a long time and you can see the exact moment she loses her cool.

It reminds me a bit of the tension in something like Without Evidence, though obviously this is way older and looks totally different.

The kid, Susi, is mostly there to look cute and make Inge feel even more guilty. Every time the mom looks at the kid, you know she's thinking about how she messed up her perfect life.

I kept thinking about how huge the hats were back then. Like, how did they walk through doors without hitting the frame? 👒

The movie gets really dark once the blackmailing woman starts showing up at her house. She is played by Margit Manstad and she has this very cold, "I'm going to take all your money" vibe that is genuinely creepy.

It is way more interesting than The Little Variety Star which is just too sugary and happy for my taste. I prefer this kind of messy drama.

The ending is a bit of a weird one, very much like a Stefan Zweig story if you have ever read his books. It doesn't go exactly where you think it will.

It is definitely not as sweet as Anne of Green Gables, that's for sure. It's much more about the dark side of being human.

Sometimes the acting is a bit much, with the heavy breathing and the constant clutching of the throat. But hey, it is a silent movie from 1928. That was just the style back then!

If you like movies where the atmosphere feels heavy and everyone is wearing way too many layers of clothing, give it a watch. It is a solid way to spend an hour and a half.

I wouldn't say it is a masterpiece, but it kept me from checking my phone, which is a win in my book. The pacing is actually pretty fast for a movie this old. 🎬