Consumed by the fear of losing the love of his life, a young poet spirals into a haunting blur of delusion and reality, pushing him to unhinged extremes.
Written and directed by
Philipp Machill
Gabriel Menzinger
Genre:
Thriller
Shot on Location in:
Berlin, DE
Sound:
5.1 Surround
Length:
88 min
Specs:
4k, 2:1, Color, B/W
Language:
German, English subtitles
LEAD CAST
After a night that changed everything, a young poet walks through his apartment drenched in sweat – he has become a murderer. Now he must rearrange the events into a story from which he himself can emerge as a hero. He remembers…
Haunted by insecurities, fears and constant inner conflict, cranky young poet Nero presents himself to the outside world as a grander version of himself. He enjoys the esteem in which he is held by his successful and eccentric friend and mentor Kai and his easygoing, hedonistic girlfriend Lola. While Nero strives to keep his true self from leaking out, he is loved by his key confidants precisely for his whimsical nature. As he fears losing control of events, the line between delusion and reality begins to blur.
His attempts to prevent the worst from happening by rigorous action end in disaster – Nero has become the murderer of those who truly understood him.
“No Blood on My Hands” takes us back to the year 2020. We were both just 18, dreaming of launching our techno/dark EBM project PANORAMA right after finishing school – until the lockdown forced us into isolation. Week by week we lost our sense of the outside world and reality, inventing characters, celebrations, fantasy worlds until screenplay emerged…
Nero, the eccentric poet at the center of our film, is a distillation of that experience: torn, contradictory, ever more entangled in himself. Through costume, set design, and peculiar figures that exist almost entirely indoors, we want to make his sense of alienation tangible.
When we started working on the film, we were 19 and had no contacts in the industry. But through the German platform Crew United we were able to draw attention to our project and bring together a wonderful, professional team. A snowball effect began that turned a spontaneous idea into a feature film.
Nero’s story is about the deep human drive for control. The fear of losing his great love plunges him into a downward spiral of paranoia and misinterpretation. His delusional perspective shows how subjective our reality is – and how fatal that can become. “No Blood on My Hands” leaves us with the question: do our thoughts determine our destiny?