This dry, beautifully acted German comedy is making waves around the world.
It's a nominee in the Best Foreign Language film category at the Oscars this month, and has made headlines because Jack Nicholson loved the film so much he's coming out of retirement to star in an American remake.
There's another simple reason we should be talking Toni Erdmann; it's a German comedy - a sparsely populated genre.
A carefully crafted and honest film about artistic father Winfried connecting with business orientated daughter Ines, Toni Erdmann isn't an endless series of laugh-out-loud gags so much as a terrifically funny opening scene and climax, with the in-between littered with gags and observations about family.
It's funny in a way that fluctuates from amusing and clever, to awkward and a touch depressing - and it's how it manages to be all these things that's refreshing. The unusual tone is accentuated by a simple observational documentary-shooting style so we feel we're in the room with Winfried and Ines, experiencing their relationship at close range.
