This is an interesting German movie. Luca, the protagonist is facing exams for high school diploma. She tries to learn along with an older guy. She has a dog that cares dearly and uplifts her after years in which didn't feel good.

The movie explores her relationships with various friends, some of which are slacking or weird. Also, the strenuous relation with her mother. We get to know her grandmother.

All in all, it is an interesting development of character. And the movie is finally uplifting for those who pass a worse part in their lives.

There are sparkling and funny moments. There are a few predictable moments (with the angry boyfriend) and the ending loses steam.

02/28/2020 It was definitely a well constructed movie being played out with professional actresses/actors. Not exciting, not a thriller but it will hold any reasonably intelligent viewer all the way through. The rest of the viewers you'll read by their lower reviews. Bon Appetit'

"Luca tanzt leise" or "Dancing Quietly" is a German movie from 2016, so a pretty fresh and new work overall. It has not received a truly great deal of attention I guess because neither the cast nor the people behind the cameras are known at all, not even here in Germany. The latter is especially writer and director Philipp Eichholtz and for him it is the second full feature film of his career. He is still pretty young and occasionally shows potential, but in terms of steady and convincing screen writing he still needs to improve in the next couple years I would say. The actress who plays the title character is Martina Schöne-Radunski and I have never heard the name before seeing this film. It's difficult to say for me if I like her or not in terms of the performance she gave. Maybe accurate, but not really memorable would be a fitting description. This film here is really short, but that's not a problem I think. It actually means that the film does not really drag. But there are some logical problems like a young woman would not get schooled by her mother at an official institution that offers people to do their A-Levels. And there are a handful more moments where the film is not really that strong in terms of logical aspects. The relationships between the characters (regardless of family or (boy)friends) often suffer from weak writing when it comes to dialogues and that's a bit of a shame as I felt the actors all were pretty solid. The ending is heartbreaking for an animal lover like myself, but honestly it feels to me as if it is something that felt just dramatic for the sake of it instead of delivering on an emotional level. And the almost final scene with the other dog was really an uncreative example of shoddy feel-good writing. All in all, this film has its moments and strengths I think, but there is more weak and forgettable in here than really strong or memorable. I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended. Oh yeah and when you are vegan you are vegan. You don't eat meat from your grandmother because she is such an amazing cook.