You don’t often see, or perhaps never at all, a film which was filmed in a single extended shot. To be clear here, the whole 140 mins of running time, only sometimes a chill out music allows the actors to enjoy themselves for a little whi­le, while the camera still follows them as if it was their shadows. This kind of movie is never easy to make, but when it’s done, the only feeling you get is like if you were watching someone’s life in 2 hours and half… A life that will take its heroes to a whole different level, to a level where some of them must greet their new selves… What happens in Victoria is masterfully directed by German filmmaker, Sebastian Schipper. It is nothing less than a cinematic masterpiece, a piece of art, which once again brings a German movie on the top of the pedestal.

Victoria, in her twenties, is from Madrid, but lives in Berlin. Despite a few months she’s got no friends, works in a little café where she earns 4 EURO per hour, and life seems too boring for her.  One of those uneventful evenings, when she is about to leave a nightclub, she meets four friends, Sonne, Blinker, Boxer and Fuss. We don’t know anything about them except they’re being friendly with the young girl who they just met. After a little drink and innocent wanderings of the night in Berlin, Victoria is about to make a life-changing friendship… She does not know that yet.

As the movie progresses and the camera still follow our heroes without a single break, we find out that the four friends were imprisoned before. Now out of jail, they’re celebrating Fuss’ birthday. Having a little wild night, soon the four will receive a call where Victoria, along with her new gang friends, joins to rob a bank. Believe it or not, but what happens in the next hour and half is something hard to describe but certainly should not be missed. This is where the Victoria we knew in the beginning of the film will never be the same again… That’s if she even gets a chance to escape what she’s thrown herself into.…

In conclusion, Victoria is an absolutely outstanding, mind-blowing film that manages to bring a new experience to the viewer that had never been experienced before. From that moment on there is always the feeling that whichever way the movie will take you, it won’t be the one you expect. It will make you experience the art of filmmaking in the best way known to the great Sebastian Schipper.