THE STORY – Allegro Pastell tells the story of a long-distance relationship that is almost flawless. At its core lie the individual perceptions of two lovers who have mostly had things go their way and who seem to have everything under control. Tanja is 33 and lives in Berlin as an up-and-coming writer. Jerome is 35, works as a web designer, and has returned to his Hessian hometown of Maintal near Frankfurt, moving into the bungalow left by his parents. The couple visits each other often and remains constantly connected through email. A website for Tanja – intended as a 34th-birthday gift from Jerome – unexpectedly leads to the first rupture in their relationship. The two lovers drift apart, draw close again, then risk losing each other once more.
THE CAST – Sylvaine Faligant, Jannis Niewöhner, Haley Louise Jones, Luna Wedler & Martina Gedeck
THE TEAM – Anna Roller (Director/Writer) & Leif Randt (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 100 Minutes
When you have truly loved a book, the announcement of a film adaptation often triggers a quiet unease. The fear is simply too great that the magic you created in your own mind will not survive the journey to the screen unscathed. Luckily, though, “Allegro Pastell” by bestselling author Leif Randt, which was longlisted for the German Book Prize in 2020, works surprisingly well as a book adaptation. In fact, the film may resonate even more strongly with readers of the novel than with audiences discovering the story independently for the first time.
The original book campaign frequently described it as ‘Germany’s next lovestory’ and beyond that, it can certainly be read as a German answer to the cultural phenomenon at the beginning of the pandemic that “Normal People “: In “Allegro Pastell “we follow two people who struggle to allow real intimacy, who do not quite function as a couple and yet repeatedly find their way back to each other. It is easily a portrait of a generation hitting the zeitgeist, and the fact that the book was published shortly before the first lockdown likely only amplified its impact.
At the center is the long-distance relationship between Berlin-based writer Tanja Arnheim (Sylvaine Faligant) and web designer Jerome Daimler (Jannis Niewöhner), who lives in his parents’ house close to Frankfurt am Main. Their relationship unfolds in three phases: physical closeness during visits, intense dialogue from afar, and the charged anticipation of the next reunion. They aspire to a state the author himself once described as distantly life-affirming devotion. This fragile balance is threatened by the possibility of truly committing and surrendering control. Director Anna Roller, who co-wrote the screenplay with Randt, remains remarkably faithful to the novel’s tone. The central challenge lies in translating a text steeped in self-reflection and ironic detachment into visual form. Much of what happens between the lines in the book is conveyed through voice-over in the film. This is pragmatic, yet at times it risks overshadowing the imagery and limiting its autonomy. What may feel unusual for a German film, though fitting within the context of the source material, is the casual use of numerous anglicisms. The characters speak in a fluid mix of German and English that precisely mirrors their milieu and aligns seamlessly with the kind of story being told.
The film visually finds elegant equivalents for its themes. A soft pastel palette (which ironically is fitting to its title), static framing, and meticulously arranged spaces reflect the characters’ carefully managed emotional lives. The casting sharpens this effect. Jannis Niewöhner, as Jerome, brings a mix of sensitivity, vanity, and self-optimization, a role that suits him particularly well compared to other national projects. Opposite him, his co-star Sylvania Faligant brings a subtle cosmopolitan distance as Tanja. Together, they form a couple that feels convincing, yet faintly disquieting. And then, besides them, there is Luna Wedler, who plays Tanja’s sister: The actress, who received the Best Emerging Actor award in Venice last year for Ildikó Enyedi’s “Silent Friend “, has also appeared in 2025 in the contemporary literary adaptation “22 Bahnen “with Jannis Niewöhner as her love interest. For German audiences, this may feel somewhat strange at first. The industry currently has relatively few emerging talents of this caliber. Since the two actors do not actually share much screen time here, it is easy to overlook that initial adjustment. Despite her limited screen time, as with everything she touches, Luna brings a fine, precise layer that noticeably elevates the overall plot.
For all its polish, the film revolves around a central void: these characters suffer not from lack, but from excess. A website Jerome designs for Tanja becomes an intimacy crisis, unsettling the relationship. Pleasure turns performative, work becomes self-optimization, and every emotion is filtered for display. This is a romance shaped by constant scrutiny and quiet emotional fatigue, portrayed without irony as a generational condition of permanent self-consciousness. That detachment defines the style as well. The characters remain closed off, with a cool, measured tone, limiting identification. At times, the film feels cautious, still orbiting its literary source rather than fully asserting its own cinematic voice.
And yet, “Allegro Pastell” strikes a contemporary nerve. There is a certain tension between irony and sincerity, between commitment anxiety and the longing for stability, which probably feels familiar to most of us. The characters drift between desire and self-sabotage in a world where emotions are filtered and optimized. Less a classic romance than a study of relational paralysis, the film approaches failure as quiet background noise. It carries a subdued melancholy as it analyzes millennials and even Generation Z. As an adaptation, it honors its source; as a standalone work, it remains restrained, never fully stepping out of its literary shadow.
