Viennese rapper Ted Candy (Aleksandar Simonovski, aka ‘Yugo’) is on the rise—good-looking, talented, and business-savvy. Hoping to switch to a bigger label, he cuts ties with his mentor, Akman 47 Onur (Murat Seven). But after a concert, high on cocaine and adrenaline, Ted dies. Detectives Moritz Eisner (Harald Krassnitzer) and Bibi Fellner (Adele Neuhauser) quickly find a suspect, but Akman denies any involvement, claiming their social media feud was staged to boost their followers and business.
A hate-filled text from Ted about Akman 47 leads Bibi to his backer, Igor Slavin (Hary Prinz), an old acquaintance from her vice squad days. Though he now operates legally, his past in prostitution and pornography still makes him a prime target for the investigation. But what really happened that night?
DIRECTOR: Mirjam Unger
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sebastian Thaler
PRODUCER: Katharina Ernst, Burkhard Ernst
LENGTH: 90min
YEAR: 2024
COUNTRY: AUSTRIA
FORMAT: 1,78:1
SHOT ON: ARRI Alexa 35
LENS: Leica Summilux
PRODUCTION: Cult Film
CAST: Adele Neuhauser, Harald Krassnitzer
Variety:
"Lenser Sebastian Thaler, son of Ulrich Seidl’s regular cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler, lights and shoots with a crisp, limpid immediacy that makes him a talent to watch. His work gives even the simplest shot a vivid yet pensive effect, whether he’s filming a nightclub scene, a yoga routine, a wide shot of salmon-colored tower blocks in Kiev, or resting on one of the principals’ faces to catch their quicksilver expressions." by Jessica Kiang (view orginal critic)
Diagonale '17:
"In a fragmentary film with few dialogues, in which much is not pronounced, the imagery takes over an important part of the narrative. In "Ugly", the audience is given a lot of space, in wide tableaus as well as in intensive close-ups. Through the symbiosis of spontaneous and unkitted, but at the same time highly composed images, the film develops a veritable pull that is difficult to avoid. Due to the variety of subjects, lighting scenes and compositions and the always surprising new perspectives, the film is always in motion despite its quiet narrative style." by Julia Drack, Michael Loebensetin & Holger Stern
Michael Ballhaus Awards:
"An intelligent and intuitive cameraman accompanies two outstanding actors, in long moving sequences, with an instinct for body language and facial expression" by the Jury of FIRST STEPS