Imagine a person living in a cocoon of meds and positive statements. Suffering from agoraphobia, anxiety and panic attacks, Philipp only goes out to face the world with the safety kit in one hand and the therapist’s hand in the other. However, city life is a jungle he cannot control, and hell breaks loose during a trip to the pharmacy: after failing to shoot her cheating husband, Herta walks in with a gun and is taken as a robber. In the person of this blonde, fearless old lady, life takes Philipp as a hostage and forces him to overcome his nightmares in Fear and Shivers, directed by Reinhard Schwabenitzky and screened at Diagonale Austrian Film Festival.

Schwabenitzky seems to have learned his lessons well when it comes to Hollywood comedies with a touch of romance: Fear and Shivers proves it, from policemen jokes to bits of wisdom about the ”men and women” issue and the belated happy end. Not to mention the garden gnomes crashing scene. There is also a pronounced feminist aura surrounding this film, as scriptwriters Susanne Freund and Katarina Ball never miss the chance to make a point and and underline the emancipation of the ”weaker sex”, starting from a housewife who decides to take justice in her own hands and continuing with a hitchhiker who drives off with some strangers after another fight with her abusive partner.

Andreas Kiendl plays a charming neurotic, despite the occasional slips into charicatural exageration, and Elfi Eschke builds a character somewhere at the fine line between surrogate mother and lover, who sheds a light on Philipp’s hidden forces. Although the storyline is somewhat predictible, Kiendl and Eschke’s performances create a discreet chemistry that keeps one watching. Fear and Shivers may not be a big film, but it sure is a very pleasurable experience.

by Andreea Dobre