Erotic Infidelity and Berlin S&M Feature in Trailer for Oldenburg Opener ‘Traumnovelle’ (Exclusive)

This is not your father’s Traumnovelle.

Florian Frerichs’ new adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s famed erotic novella — the work that inspired Stanley Kubrick‘s Eyes Wide Shut — promises to be a much more explicit version of the story. The trailer for the film, which opens this year’s Oldenburg Film Festival on Sept. 11, is heavy on the hot and heavy (see below).

Nikolai Kinski (Barbarians) and Laurine Price (Phoenix) star a respectable upper-middle-class couple living in Berlin who get drawn into a secret and dangerous world of erotic fantasy. Detlev Buck, Bruno Eyron, and Nora Islei co-star with cameos from Sharon Brauner and Sharon Kovacs. Warnuts Entertainment and Studio Babelsberg produced.

Frerichs’ Traumnovelle follows many of the plot beats as Kubrick’s adaptation. After his wife, Amelia (Price) confesses to having sexual fantasies about another man, Jakob (Kinski), a doctor to the city’s rich and famous, becomes intrigued by a secret sex “ball” attended by some of the city’s most prominent citizens. Disguising himself in a cloak and mask, he manages to sneak in, despite warnings that attending could destroy his life.

Originally published in 1926, Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle has been adapted a number of times for the screen, most famously with Kubrik’s 1999 feature starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The production famously shot over a record-breaking 400 days. Shortly after finishing the film, and just six days after screening his cut for Kidman and Cruise, Kubrick died.

Frerichs and his cast will attend the Traumnovelle world premiere in Oldenburg on Sept. 11. The film hits German theaters in early 2025 courtesy of Apollo Film.

The Oldenburg Festival is Germany’s leading indie film fest and is known for its celebration of provocative, oddball or otherwise outside the mainstream cinema. The 31st Oldenburg Film Festival runs Sept. 11-15.

Check out the trailer for Traumnovelle below.