Karla
A twelve-year-old girl defies family authority and institutional indifference to seek protection from her abusive father.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- harrowing
- serious
- empathetic
- focused evening viewing
- social justice film night
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Karla must seek protection in a social climate where children are barely heard and sexual abuse is excused as harsh upbringing.
At twelve, Karla leaves her family alone and files a complaint against her father.
Judge Lamy takes Karla seriously and becomes essential to her effort to obtain safety.
The plot directly contrasts sexual abuse with a period in which abusive discipline is socially minimized.
Films like Karla, and why
The Accused
shares a child abuse survivor narrative, institutional confrontation, and emotionally severe legal drama
Precious
shares trauma-centered storytelling, an abused young protagonist, and an empathetic social-realist register
The Tale
shares a survivor confronting buried sexual abuse through testimony, memory, and institutional reckoning
Movie Details
- Director
- Christina Tournatzés
- Release Date
- 2025-10-02
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 8.1 / 10 (7)
Cast
- Elise Krieps
- Rainer Bock
- Imogen Kogge
- Torben Liebrecht
- Katharina Schüttler
- Robert Hunger-Bühler
- Frank Vockroth
- Carlotta von Falkenhayn
- Ulla Geiger
- Ben Braun
Common questions
- What is Karla about?
- A twelve-year-old girl defies family authority and institutional indifference to seek protection from her abusive father.
- What is Karla like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Karla as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Karla violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Karla as moderate.
- Which films are like Karla?
- Films with a similar feel include The Accused, Precious, and The Tale.
- How long is Karla?
- Karla runs 105 minutes.
