THE STORY – With all the resources and authority of the state behind her, young prosecutor Seyo Kim is determined to confront far-right violence in eastern Germany. But when she, herself, becomes a target – surviving a racist attack on her life – Seyo decides to investigate on her own, defying explicit orders from her superiors and putting her life further at risk.
THE CAST – Chen Emilie Yan, Julia Jentsch, Alev Irmak, Arnd Klawitter & Sebastian Urzendowsky
THE TEAM – Faraz Shariat (Director) & Claudia Schaefer, Jee-Un Kim & Dr. Sun-Ju Choi (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 113 Minutes
Staatsschutz (translated as “Prosecution,” though the literal meaning is “State Security”) is the second feature from German director Faraz Shariat, following his 2020 debut Futur Drei (“No Hard Feelings”). Premiering in the Panorama strand at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival, the film is a gripping legal thriller that takes an unflinching look at institutional racism in present-day Eastern Germany.
Chen Emilie Yan delivers a commanding performance as Seyo Kim, a young Korean-German prosecutor (born in Germany to a Korean father) who has built a reputation prosecuting perpetrators of far-right violence. After surviving a vicious racist attack, however, Seyo becomes personally invested in the very systems she serves. Defying explicit orders from her superior, Chief Prosecutor Forch (Arnd Klawitter), she begins reopening old cases, convinced that something deeper is rotting beneath the surface. As threatening messages escalate and her elderly father is manipulated into revealing her home address, Seyo realizes that not only her life but also those of the people she loves, including her covert girlfriend, Min-Su (Kotbong Yang), are at risk. Still, she presses forward, uncovering disturbing truths about Germany’s public prosecution service. The film’s fury stems directly from these revelations. Long regarded as one of the most objective institutions in the world, the prosecution service is exposed here in stark, unsettling detail.
The screenplay, co-written by Claudia Schaefer, Jee-Un Kim, and Dr. Sun-Ju Choi, methodically peels back each layer of the case with precision, like an onion slowly stripped to its core. When Seyo ultimately finds herself in court, working alongside senior prosecutor Alexandra Tiedermann (Julia Jentsch), the film fully embraces the pleasures of the courtroom drama. Surprise witness appearances, hostile testimony turned on itself, and mounting procedural tension deliver satisfying genre beats without sacrificing thematic weight.
Shariat’s direction is assured throughout. An early standout sequence depicts the attack on Seyo in three swift stages as an assailant attempts to set her on fire beneath a bridge. Staged in a single, unbroken long shot, the scene underscores both Seyo’s vulnerability and the audience’s helplessness, while evoking the infamous underpass sequence in “Irreversible” by Gaspar Noé. Visually, the film is striking, aided by cinematographer Lotta Kilian, who renders the courtroom interiors with sharp, almost oppressive severity. One particularly effective motif is Seyo’s “murder wall,” which gradually consumes the windows of her apartment as she tapes documents over them, which stands as an elegant visual metaphor for how the case literally and figuratively shuts out the light in her life.
Tonally, the film veers into deeply unsettling territory, at times bordering on horror. A late sequence begins with a seemingly familiar scenario (police stopping Seyo on dubious grounds). Still, it spirals into something far darker and more terrifying, exposing just how vulnerable individuals can be when confronted by corrupt institutional forces.
Having previously worked in television, Chen Emilie Yan makes a sensational feature debut. Her Seyo is fiercely ambitious yet visibly worn by years of casual racism and professional obstruction. As the scope of the corruption she faces becomes undeniable, Chen delivers a devastating breakdown that ranks among the film’s most powerful moments. In that instant, the personal and systemic collide with overwhelming force.
The supporting cast is equally strong. Arnd Klawitter is memorably oleaginous as Forch, embodying the sort of figure whose inevitable reckoning feels both earned and necessary. Julia Jentsch (known for “The Edukators” and “What Marielle Knows“) brings gravitas and complexity to Alexandra. At the same time, Kotbong Yang offers warmth and emotional steadiness in her brief but meaningful scenes as Min-Su. Mercy Dorcas Otieno also delivers a moving performance as Maida Cali, a prior victim of police racism whom Seyo persuades to testify.
If there is hope to be found, it lies in the courage of Seyo and Maida, two women determined to do what is right despite the personal cost. Though often painful to watch, “Staatsschutz” is a powerful and urgent legal thriller that confronts systemic injustice head-on while still delivering the enduring satisfactions of a courtroom drama.
