I never believed a second of it, and a big part of the problem is Hüller’s performance, which treads a consistently clichéd divide between the Arthouse Opaque (dead-eyed stares-into-the-void being prevalent) and the Awards-Baity Overwrought.

Schrödinger’s Rose is both real and not, an amalgam of many historical cases in which women attempted, via savvy subterfuge, to right patriarchal wrongs. The tragedy that befell so many of these brave souls hangs heavy over Schleinzer’s film.

Rose is a tragedy about history’s losers, its victims and those who don’t get to write their own story.

Sandra Hüller anchors Markus Schleinzer’s striking period drama, a sharp and darkly funny exploration of identity, freedom, and the cost of defying social norms. Elegant in black and white, Rose reveals its tragedy with remarkable restraint.