Petzold’s Miroirs No. 3

Fortunately for Laura, Betty is no Annie Wilkes. She takes the reeling accident victim into her home, but she lets her leave anytime she wants (there will be no “hobbling” in this film). The dynamic is far from healthy, but it isn’t sinister. In fact, there might even be an outside chance for healing in director-screenwriter Christian Petzold’s Miroirs No. 3, which opens this Friday in New York.

The premise is conducive for an amnesia mystery. Some descriptive marketing copy even suggests that Miroirs No. 3 contains thriller elements, but that is grossly misleading. However, Petzold is a skilled filmmaker, who clearly enjoys teasing his viewers with clues as to what his films are really and truly all about. That is particularly true in this case.

Laura is clearly in a funk. The piano student has conspicuously tired of her hipster boyfriend Jakob, so she sabotages his weekend party plans. Demanding he return her to the train station, he recklessly sped down Betty’s rural road, in an act of passive aggression that ultimately costs Jakob his life. Betty saw it all, and Laura saw her seeing it, wondering why the woman locked eyes on her so intently.

You don’t have to be Ingrid Bergman in Spellbound to recognize Betty’s signs of trauma. Her husband Richard and grown son Max moved out because they couldn’t face her borderline delusional behavior any longer, but they still keep tabs on her. Clearly, they worry Laura’s presence will make Betty worse. However, they also act super-awkward and solicitous around her.

If you haven’t figured out Miroirs No. 3 yet, maybe you never will. However, Petzold isn’t really trying fool anyone with a big surprise twist. He is much more interested in the characters’ extreme strategies for dealing with their traumas.

Music also plays an important role. In addition to Ravel’s titular movement, Dutch vocalist Mathilde Sating’s eerie rendition of “You Go to My Head” (which immediately prompts comparisons with Dimitri de Clerq’s much more mysterious and thrillerish amnesia film of the same title) and Frankie Valli’s “The Night” become important topics of conversation within the film.

Paula Beer plays Laura in a convincingly damaged but still rather inscrutable manner. Barbara Auer is more approachable and ultimately more poignant as he emotionally haunted Betty. Frankly, Matthias Brandt and Enno Trebs arguably do even more to humanize the film as the compassionate but wary Richard and Max. Nevertheless, it is hard to get around the flatness of Petzold’s arc.

Frankly, if you are intrigued by Miroirs No. 3’s premise than watch de Clerq’s You Go to My Head instead. The Marrakesh-set film is also unusually subtle and elegant by thriller standards, but the atmosphere and style build to a more satisfying payoff. Petzold is an important filmmaker, but this is a minor work in his filmography. It showcases terrific performances, but it lacks the devastating power of his best films, Barbara, Phoenix, and Undine. Mostly for Petzold’s admirers, Miroirs No. 3 opens this Friday (3/20) at Lincoln Center Film.