Onkel Bräsig: A bit of old-fashioned meddling

Is this for you?

If you're the type who enjoys a slow-paced, black-and-white comedy where people spend most of the time talking in parlors, you might find something to like here. If you need explosions or even just a coherent plot that moves faster than a snail, skip it. It's basically a relic, but one with a bit of a twinkle in its eye.

Zacharias Bräsig is everywhere. He's that guy at the party who thinks he knows who you should be dating better than you do. Honestly, he’s exhausting, but in that specific way that makes you want to keep watching just to see if his schemes actually work. Most of the time, they do. Which is annoying, but hey, that's movies for you.

The whole thing feels like it belongs in a different century, which it does. There’s a specific scene where Bräsig is trying to untangle a romantic knot, and I swear he spends five minutes just adjusting his collar and looking smug. It’s painfully slow, but also kind of funny if you’re in the right mood.

I caught myself thinking about The Wrong Husband while watching this, mainly because both films lean heavily into these ridiculous romantic mix-ups. At least here, the stakes feel lower. It’s not about saving a marriage; it’s about getting two young people to finally stop being shy and just get hitched already. 💒

Some random observations:

• The sets look like they were built out of cardboard and good intentions.
• There’s a bit of side-eye from the supporting cast that says more than any of the dialogue.
• The ending is so tidy it’s almost offensive.
• I’m still not sure why Bräsig cares so much about these people, but he really, really does.

Sometimes the movie gets too cozy. You can feel the director nudging you to laugh, and it starts to feel a little desperate. But then someone trips over a rug or says something unexpectedly sharp, and you’re back in it. It’s imperfect, definitely, and probably not something you’ll rewatch twice, but for a rainy Tuesday? Sure.

It’s not trying to be Song of Heroes or anything heavy like that. It just wants to be a distraction. In that, it succeeds well enough. Don't look for deep meaning, because you won't find it. Just watch the old man poke at people's love lives. 🤷‍♂️