Watched on Netflix

The fact that Netflix buys films that were actually intended for cinemas is of course not new. During the Corona pandemic and the recurring closures of cinemas around the world, this trend has intensified. And so few might have been surprised when it became known that "News of the World" (German title "Neues aus der Welt") was now also meeting this fate. All the more so, as the drama was already traded far in advance as one of the insider tips for the upcoming award season. It's no secret that the streaming service would finally like to really clean up there. So far, however, it hasn't worked out: the high-calibre films of 2019 were disappointing, and in 2020 there wasn't much that was given a serious chance.

In the case of "News of the World", however, there is already good news, at least from a German perspective: Helena Zengel is in the running for the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. As a 12-year-old from abroad, you first have to manage that. For a German audience, however, the performance is less overwhelming. After all, we already know her from the young talent's last films. She won't soon get rid of the role as a wild girl thanks to the high-flyer "Systemsprenger", where she played a traumatised, aggressive child and blew everyone away, not just in the film. As expected, the way she rages through the wilderness here is great, especially in the interplay with Tom Hanks, who once again plays the good-hearted grumpy bear.

But Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski also deserves a nomination or two for a film award. The shots he captured on his journey through post-war America are wonderful. Especially in the middle section, when "News of the World" adopts elements of the road movie - albeit without clearly recognisable roads - you can watch in admiration as the barren, inhospitable landscapes drive past you. In the process, you might forget that the film's content is not really that great in the middle section. That the two main characters come closer after initial difficulties is, after all, obligatory in a story like this. The occasional action scenes don't really have anything to say either, but are mainly there for entertainment.

On the other hand, there is something or other worth talking about. For example, the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles draws parallels to our own times that can hardly be overlooked. Whether it's the divided population after the war, racism and violence against minorities, there's even a precursor of Fake News here. Precisely because "News of the World" is set in a time when people have no direct access to news and rely on a few transmitters, the opportunities for abuse and manipulation are great. And even though Kidd has his heart in the right place, his character shows how other people can be influenced by the choice of stories as well as the way they are delivered.

Director and co-writer Paul Greengrass' new film doesn't really go into depth. It also doesn't dare to get really ugly, although the content would lend itself to that again and again. In the end, the audience is supposed to look more optimistically into the future, to believe in humanity and cohesion. You can call that unimaginative, superficial, maybe even boring. And yet it is somehow nice to embark here on a two-hour journey that positively spoils you with the familiar and keeps the art of storytelling high in all the barren hopelessness.