Akin holds nothing back, and Kruger, starring in a German film for the first time in her career, brings the grief and anger and pain to life — never overdoing any of it, yet refusing to submerge it.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
In the Fade is executed with precision, particularly the third act, in which the film morphs into a tense yet unconvincing revenge thriller.
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
Following the fizzle of his coming-of-ager Goodbye Berlin (Tschick) last year, Fatih Akin bounces back and bounces high with an edge-of-seat thriller inspired by xenophobic murders in Germany by a Neo-Nazi group.
Diane Kruger’s powerhouse performance in her first German-language production goes a long way toward compensating for the narrative’s dip into overly crystalline waters.
There's something highly familiar about the material and although it is artful and occasionally powerful, Akin and co-screenwriter Hark Bohm have constructed their story without straying far from countless other versions of the same thing.
The Playlist by Nikola Grozdanovic
Sadly, the core of ‘Fade’ is essentially banal, and the narrative is too blunt and inert to make any kind of lasting impression.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Fatih Akin’s mediocre revenge drama In the Fade is the TV movie of the week: feebly uncontentious and un-contemporary.
Like life after a murder, there is no “happy” ending, no thrilling feeling of justice served. In the Fade is that rare thriller which finds more to mull over in the culture clash — within Germany, within the Turkish expatriate community, and between German justice and American expectations, between German storytelling and Hollywood endings.
The Film Stage by Rory O'Connor
It’s a solid stab at the socially conscious mainstream flick for Akin, especially after he faltered somewhat with his last political film.
Screen International by Wendy Ide
Doggedly conventional in its approach, the film walks an uneasy line between unflinching honesty and crass emotional exploitation, before tipping into the latter in a questionable final act.