Film Review - Franz: Becoming Kafka

Images courtesy of Sharmill Films.

Franz Kafka is an iconic author, known for his works of absurdism and existentialism. His work speaks to those living with feelings of helplessness and isolation of the individual against the world. This film, Kafka (2025) takes the audience through a stylised biopic of the life of Franz Kafka and the tribulations he encounters as he becomes one of the most prominent literary figures in history.

Directed by Agnieszka Holland, the film mirrors Kafka’s psychological state through its expressionistic visual style. The set design and dark lighting are particularly effective in reflecting Kafka’s bleak moods and alienation, creating an atmosphere that feels both claustrophobic and surreal. The up close and personal and back and forth panelling cinematography evokes the anxiety-inducing nature of Kafka’s world, whilst the film’s surreal sequences blur the lines between reality and fiction, similar to the themes explored in Kafka’s own writing. 

Rather than presenting a conventional biopic, the film immerses the audience in Kafka’s anxieties and fragmented perception of society.  This allows viewers not only to observe Kafka’s life, but to experience the confusion and unease that defined both the man and his literary works.

The performance of Idan Weiss as Franz Kafka is especially compelling, portraying him not as an untouchable literary genius, but as a deeply conflicted and emotionally fragile individual struggling between artistic ambition and family ambitions. He was a tenderhearted man living in 20th Century Prague, and the threats to Jewish Europeans due to the rise of Nazism in Germany, as well as the expectations of masculinity placed upon him caused a lot of anxiety. Rather than simply recounting historical events, the film captures the emotional and psychological essence of Kafka himself, making Franz feel as surreal and unsettling as the author’s own stories.

Despite the beautifully cinematographed work depicting Kafka, the different perspectives and pacing of the film make it difficult to follow the narrative, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the works of Kafka. Nevertheless, it is the writing that truly saves the film. As expected, it was just as poetic and articulate as you would expect from a film narrating the life of Franz Kafka. 

Franz: Becoming Kafka is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.