Unrest (German: Unruh, French: Désordres) is a 2022 Swiss historical drama film written and directed by Cyril Schäublin and starring Clara Gostynski and Alexei Evstratov. It premiered at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it screened in the Encounters section and where Schäublin won the Best Director award.
New technologies are transforming a 19th-century watchmaking town in Switzerland. Josephine, a young factory worker, produces the unrest wheel, swinging in the heart of the mechanical watch. Exposed to new ways of organizing money, time and labour, she gets involved with the local movement of the anarchist watchmakers, where she meets Russian traveller Pyotr Kropotkin.
The film was released theatrically in Switzerland on 17 November 2022, distributed by Filmcoopi Zürich AG, in Germany on 5 January 2023 by Grandfilm GmbH, and in Austria on 7 January 2023 by Filmgarten Distribution. It opened in Spain on 10 February 2023 via Lost and Found, and in Croatia on 23 February 2023 through Discovery Film and Video Distribution. In France, it was released on 12 April 2023 by Shellac Films, and in the United States on 5 May 2023 by KimStim. It was released in Serbia on 28 September 2023 through Five Stars Film Distribution. The film was also distributed in Greece by Videorama LTD â Weirdwave, and in Taiwan by Cineplex Development.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Unrest holds an approval rating of 87% based on 23 critic reviews. According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 9 critics, the film received âÂÂgenerally favorable reviewsâÂÂ.
In Variety, Jessica Kiang wrote that âÂÂUnrestâ âÂÂrebels beautifully against the tyranny of things having to happen in a movieâ and suggested Schäublin as âÂÂa singular new filmmaking talentâÂÂ. Writing in The Economist, Nicolas Rapold notes that SchäublinâÂÂs off-kilter framing can âÂÂsuggest that an alternate order might be afootâÂÂ. VogueâÂÂs Lisa Wong Macabasco called it âÂÂdelightfully subversiveâ and said it âÂÂprovokes contemplation ⦠of structured time and ruthless capitalismâÂÂ. Among other notices, the Los Angeles Times described the film as âÂÂmeticulous and mischievous,â while RogerEbert.com called it âÂÂan intriguing period pieceâÂÂ.