From the Academy Award® Winning Writer/Director of SON OF SAUL
A film by László Nemes
Now Playing Select Cities · Coming Soon to a theater near you
From theAcademy Award® WinningWriter/Director of SON OF SAUL
A film byLászló Nemes
Now Playing Select Cities · Coming Soon to a theater near you
"ASTONISHINGLY BEAUTIFULAS HARROWING AS IT IS BREATHTAKING"Michael Nordine, INDIEWIRE

1913, Budapest, in the heart of Europe as World War I approaches. The young Irisz Leiter arrives in the Hungarian capital with high hopes to work as a milliner at Leiter, the legendary hat store that once belonged to her late parents; but she is quickly sent away by the new owner, Oszkár Brill.

While preparations are under way at the store, to host important, wealthy, royal guests, a man abruptly comes to Irisz, looking for a Kálmán Leiter, who he says is her brother.

Refusing to leave the city, the young woman follows Kálmán’s tracks, her only link to a lost past. Her quest brings her through the dark streets of Budapest, where only the Leiter hat store shines, into the turmoil of a civilization on the eve of its downfall.

"AUDACIOUS"Jonathan Romney, FILM COMMENT
"OUTSTANDING"Noel Murray, THEWEEK.COM
"AN ENTIRELY ABSORBING FILM"Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
  • Irisz LeiterJuli Jakab
  • Oszkár BrillVlad Ivanov
  • ZelmaEvelin Dobos
  • SándorMarcin Czarnik
  • SzerénaJudit Bárdos
  • AndorBenjamin Dino
  • NullaBalázs Czukor
  • Otto von KoenigChristian Harting
  • GáspárLevente Molnár
  • Countess RédeyJulia Jakubowska
  • LiliDorottya Moldován
  • Dr. HerzSándor Zsótér
  • Mrs. MüllerMóni Balsai
  • SzilágyiZsolt Nagy
  • RóbertPéter Fancsikai
  • Man with monocleEnrique Keil
  • PrinceTom Pilath
  • PrincessSusanne Wuest
"IMPRESSIVE"Deborah Young, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"THERE'S SADNESS AND BEAUTY IN EVERY FRAME"Michael Nordine, INDIEWIRE
  • DirectorLászló Nemes
  • Screenwriters László Nemes Clara Royer Matthieu Taponier
  • CinematographerMátyás Erdély
  • Set DesignerLászló Rajk
  • Film EditorMatthieu Taponier
  • SoundTamás Zányi
  • MusicLászló Melis
  • ProductionLaokoon Filmgroup
  • Co-ProductionPlaytime Production
  • Producers Gábor Sipos Gábor Rajna
  • Co-ProducersFrançois YonNicolas Brigaud-RobertValéry Guibal
With the support of
  • Hungarian National Film FundHungarian Film IncentiveEurimagesAide aux Cinémas du MondeCentre National du Cinéma et de L’Image AniméeInstitut FrançaisIndéfilms 6TorinoFilmLabCreative Europe MEDIA
"The work of a master"Rory O'Connor, THE FILM STAGE

Just before the outbreak of World War I, the monarchy of Austria-Hungary was in the very center of Europe, a crossroads of all the accumulated European tensions, where modernity and obsolescence co-existed on many levels. Politically, the old Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, ruled from Vienna, over vast territories, including a dozen nations and many cultures and religions. All forms of vigorous political and ideological aspirations that spread during the 19th century were present, even rampant, sometimes mixed: socialism, anarchism, nationalism. Modern antisemitism reaches its maturity in Vienna. New scientific approaches blossom, the first forms of psychological studies and psychoanalysis thrive, whereas many pseudo-scientific and intellectual groups, cult-like movements (occult sects following illuminated leaders) seemed to crave a special place in society, or on the edge of society. Thus, many fundamentally marginal, albeit enthusiastic movements co-exist in Austria- Hungary, where all art forms, including architecture, literature and motion pictures, flourished. The identity crisis resulting from the fragmentation of aspirations and the decay of the central royal order, coupled with general sense of disenchantment and a crisis of masculinity, give rise to a vibrating world that was on the verge of ecstatic prosperity or its downfall.

In a way, beyond the love for technology within society and its boundless optimism, there was a deep malaise – a floating sentiment that something ominous, possibly apocalyptic was about to happen. This society, whose codes and sophistication were embodied by the way people dressed and behaved - the hats they designed and wore, preserved a facade of tranquility. But under the veneer of civilization, many forces could not be controlled. They were about to take all the people, unsuspecting and believing in progress, into a quagmire and destruction of hitherto unseen, industrial proportions.