Astrid Lorenz (Sophie Scholl star Julia Jentsch) is a stand-up comic; she's even considered something of a celebrity. But the seemingly perfect life Astrid, her manager/boyfriend and their young daughter have enjoyed to this point is thrown for a loop when she's told their second child will almost certainly have Down syndrome.

Whether to keep the baby then becomes the dreadful decision Astrid needs to make, a question complicated not only by the fact it would be a late-term abortion and she's a public figure, but also by the discovery of a second medical condition.

Berrached probes the issue with studied neutrality, and casts real-life doctors and specialists in supporting roles, while water becomes a recurring motif that suggests both the fluid state of Astrid's thinking as well as what is literally going on inside her belly.

"A wrenchingly affecting picture... It's an incredible, revealing performance from Jentsch. She draws us under the skin of her character and forces us to ride the same waves of emotion-guilt, sadness, rage-as she struggles to make her decision." Wendy Ide, Screen