Sound of Falling was met with outstanding reviews after its debut at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The German film by Mascha Schilinski is about four girls who spend their youth on the same farm in Northern Germany at different times. Over the course of a century, their lives begin to mirror each other.

Schilinski, once a magician and fire dancer, co-wrote the 149-minute film with Louise Peter. The German-born director’s feature film, Dark Blue Girl, was screened at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. Now, at its world premiere, the Cannes submission received a four-minute standing ovation.

In an interview with Variety, Schilinski described:

This film is, above all, about remembering. About how we remember and how we perceive. At first, you’re trapped in the moment and in your body, but over time, when you look back, you’re able to look at yourself from the outside.

She emphasized the complexity of memory and how much of it humans are able to access.

The screenplay was penned by the writers from a farm, and then shot in 34 days. It was produced by Lucas Schmidt, Lasse Scharpen and Maren Schmitt.

Sound of Falling has become a strong Palme d’Or contender. With Variety calling it “an instant sensation” and Deadline reviewer Damon Wise writing, “Cinema is too small a word for what this sprawling yet intimate epic achieves in its ethereal, unnerving brilliance,” this is undoubtedly a film to follow this Cannes season.