CLOSE TO THE HORIZON (2019)

Genre: Romance
Director: Tim Trachte
Cast: Jannik Schümann, Luna Wedler, Luise Befort
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 5 December 2019

Synopsis:  What if you meet the love of your life, knowing you would only have little time to spend together? 18 year old Jessica is young, loves life and has prospects for a promising future when one day she falls head over heels in love with Danny. He is handsome, charming and self-confident, but behind this perfect façade lies a dark secret. Jessica will come to realise that the future together she dreams of will not come to be. She is, however, certain of one thing: She believes in their love and in Danny. She will fight for him and for that love. For in the end it is not how long you have loved that counts, but how deeply you have loved. 

Movie Review:

One scene was all it takes for this reviewer to know that he isn’t a fan of romance genre. The female protagonist goes to a kickboxing match to see the male protagonist in action. For some strange reason, she shows up in the male changing room after the match to see him stepping out topless.

Yup, this was the perfect chance for the filmmakers to feature shots of the guy’s perfect bod – but was there a need for it? Absolutely not.

Let us give some context to this sequence. The girl had barely known the guy, and her reason of waiting for the dude so they can leave the venue together seems ridiculous. Ask yourself: would you wait at the changing room (it didn’t even seem like the entrance, mind you) if you are not even officially dating?

Okay, before this reviewer gets shot for being too critical about the romance genre, let him state that the two leads do deliver decent performances. Jannik Schümann plays a dashing young man who also models for a living (another reason for him to appear in a billboard ad wearing only underwear), and is a natural charmer when it comes to connecting with ladies. Luna Wedler is a simple girl who falls in love with him and believe that they have a future together, until a plot development reveals that he may not have long to live.

At this point in time, you may either go “aww, that is a tragedy”, or correctly predict how the movie is going to progress and end. For this writer, it is the latter. The messages about how two people will be there for each other despite the odds, how they can overcome all challenges, and how letting go may be the best option for both parties to be truly happy are supposedly timeless themes which move viewers to tears, but the world probably has enough of such stories to make this German production stand out.

The story is based on the real life experiences of Jessica Koch, who penned the series of events in her debut autobiographical novel “So Near The Horizon”. Flipping through the pages of this book, and imagining how the protagonists are fighting this battle together may be a better way to experience this story. When adapted for the screen, the supposed poignancy doesn’t come through. In fact, the less patient audiences may find it tiresome to sit through the entire 118 minute runtime.

This is no fault of director Tim Trachte, because there have been too many predictable productions of such genre in the market. And without any clever spins or controversial themes, this will probably be forgotten a few months down the road. In fact, the only thing you may remember about the film after its end credits are the good looking main cast.

Movie Rating:

(If you aren't a die-hard fan of the romance genre, this movie is nothing more than a chick flick featuring a good-looking main cast)

Review by John Li