Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi (On Body and Soul) has crafted one of the year’s most eccentric and unforgettable cinematic experiences. Silent Friend is a triptych that unfolds across more than a century, all centered on a single ginkgo tree in the botanical gardens of Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. It is a meditation on humanity’s long entanglement with the botanical world—and, unexpectedly, a piece of strangely sensual, arboreal erotica.
The Triptych: Three Eras, One Tree
The film is divided into three narratives, each introducing a new protagonist whose life drifts into the orbit of the ancient ginkgo.
| Era | Protagonist | Storyline |
|---|---|---|
| Early 1900s | Grete (Luna Wedler) | The university’s first woman science student, navigating academic hostility and finding liberation through the lens of a camera. |
| 1972 | Hannes (Enzo Brumm) | A shy literature student whose quiet curiosity about a geranium mirrors his growing feelings for a botany student, Gundula. |
| Present Day (Pandemic) | Tony Wong (Tony Leung) | A visiting neuroscientist stranded in isolation, who begins to study the ginkgo’s micro-movements and forms an unexpected bond with it. |
Léa Seydoux appears in a small but pivotal role as a French botanist researching plant communication, connecting with Wong’s character online.
What Makes It a Wonder
- Tony Leung’s Melancholic Grace: Leung brings his signature yearning to the role of Wong, transforming a solitary man’s fascination with a tree into a poignant exploration of intellectual loneliness and the search for connection. The reviewer notes he plays the arc with “the familiar yearning that once defined In the Mood for Love (except this time the object of devotion happens to be a 200-year-old ginkgo).”
- A Meditation on Perception: A key lecture scene, where Wong discusses how consciousness filters reality, becomes a mirror for the audience’s own experience of watching the film. It’s a philosophical idea delivered with “calm clarity.”
- Liberation Through Looking: In the 1908 segment, Grete’s turn to photography is portrayed as a radical act. Behind the camera, she gains “authority over observation in a world that repeatedly questions her intellect.”
- Unexpected Erotica: The film’s most audacious achievement is its slow-burn sensuality. Grete’s gaze at plants, Hannes’s devotion to a geranium, and Wong’s “sapiosexual fascination” with the ginkgo build to a climax that is genuinely surprising and moving.
The Verdict
Silent Friend is a film that rewards patience and openness. It is a strange, sensual wonder that invites us to consider the forms of life—and the dimensions of existence—that human perception has historically overlooked. As Luca Guadagnino reportedly called it his favourite film of 2025, it’s easy to see why. This is Enyedi at her most imaginative and daring.
