Fassbinder’s international breakthrough is an unconventional love story with devastating emotional power. Inspired by Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows in both its aesthetic and its astute social commentary, Fassbinder explores love and desire across the boundaries of age and race.

An almost accidental romance is kindled between a German woman in her mid-sixties and a Moroccan migrant worker around twenty-five years younger. Seeking companionship, the pair marry to the outrage Emmi’s family (including Fassbinder himself as her aggressive son-in-law), her friends and her colleagues.

Fear Eats the Soul is a beautifully performed look at intolerance and hypocrisy, and a key film for both Fassbinder and the New German Cinema.

"Fassbinder made so many incredible films, but this is certainly up there with his finest." ★★★★★ Little White Lies

★★★★★ CineVue