He can be a stand-in to rehearse the argument you are bound to have with your husband, a cultured lover to accompany you to classical music concerts, or a perfect son to impress your colleagues… Matthias can be all of these men: he is a “rental friend” and the best in his profession. But who is he in reality? That part is a little unclear. Nothing seems to be going right in the young man’s private life, and each new problem only makes him feel more alienated from himself.

Bernhard Wenger’s first feature film is a pitch-perfect dark comedy about acting and pretending. It is also a satire of today’s virtual world, where most people are in a constant state of performance on social media, endlessly trying to reinvent themselves. And when it comes to acting, the script offers a fantastic opportunity to shine in the role of Matthias. Peacock is as much the film of director Wenger as it is of Albrecht Schuch, the lead actor who appears in nearly every scene, deftly carrying the story forward.