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Cloudy Clouds
Movie

Cloudy Clouds

2021 • Unknown

Woke Score
5
out of 10

Plot

17-year-old Paul likes strange things: stealth trails and abandoned buildings, whispered conversations and left-behind bags. Besides that, he seems to be a young man without qualities. His mysterious nature catches the eyes of his classmate Dala and his art-loving teacher Mr. Bulwer, both seemingly driven by hidden desires. Then a boy’s dead body is discovered in the forest...

Overall Series Review

Cloudy Clouds (Trübe Wolken) is a dark, psychological thriller that focuses on the unsettling, aimless existence of 17-year-old Paul Nebe in a suffocating German province. The film’s tension is built around Paul’s mysterious, sinister nature—his voyeurism, petty crimes, and attraction to abandoned spaces—which culminates in him becoming the prime suspect in the murder of a classmate. The narrative is less concerned with whodunit and more with the quiet psychological rot that manifests within a seemingly conventional Western, middle-class environment. Character depth is replaced by the exploration of alienation and hidden desires, as his female classmate and his male teacher are both morbidly drawn to his enigmatic darkness. The movie critiques the 'bourgeois' stability of its small-town setting, painting it as a source of moral and emotional decay, which ultimately spawns a 'heartless, cold-blooded killer.'

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics4/10

The lead antagonist, Paul, is a white male who is portrayed as a 'heartless, cold-blooded killer' and a 'young man without qualities.' The primary victim is explicitly his 'gay classmate.' This sets up a dynamic where the conventional demographic is the source of evil and the marginalized identity is the victim, which is a common trope. The overall narrative, however, focuses on Paul’s individual psychology and local ennui, not an overt lecture on systemic oppression or immutable characteristics.

Oikophobia7/10

The setting is deliberately framed as the 'tristesse' (gloom/sadness) of the German 'provinz' (province) and a 'shady-grey small town.' Paul’s family is described as being on the surface 'kind of normal' but 'very peculiar indeed,' featuring an 'apathetic dad' and 'near-hysterical step-mother.' The core theme critiques the traditional, middle-class Western home and local culture as fundamentally alienated and corrupt, a breeding ground for a psychopath.

Feminism3/10

The female lead, Dala, is depicted as an 'actress wannabee' who is manipulated and used by Paul to create a fake alibi, showing her attraction to his darkness makes her easily exploited. The stepmother is shown as 'near-hysterical.' Men are widely depicted as either sinister (Paul), apathetic (Paul's father), or driven by 'hidden desires' (Mr. Bulwer). Female characters are not 'Mary Sues,' but male characters are overwhelmingly portrayed as dysfunctional, predatory, or weak, which is a pervasive negative gender dynamic.

LGBTQ+6/10

The entire central mystery is triggered by the discovery of a dead boy in the forest, who is identified as the main character Paul’s 'new, gay classmate.' This places a character defined by an alternative sexual identity at the heart of the plot as a victim of violence. This is a significant centering of an LGBTQ+ identity within the narrative, even if the primary theme remains a psychological thriller.

Anti-Theism4/10

The film’s atmosphere is defined by a profound sense of alienation, moral vacuum, and 'undefinable state of estrangement' in the protagonist. This vacuum allows Paul to operate as a 'heartless, cold-blooded killer,' implicitly rejecting any concept of Objective Truth or higher moral law. However, there is no direct attack on or negative portrayal of Christian or other religious figures; the absence of transcendence is secular and nihilistic, not anti-theist.