Sunny (Renate Krößner) is an East German touring musician, and things don’t always go well on these short tours. Her band’s saxophonist gets a busted lip, making her want to seek out other saxophonists like Ralph (Alexander Lang). They eventually become inseparable, have deep conversations, and hang out as he plays some records for her. But eventually, she gets to know the kind of man Ralph really is and that revelation gets to her. Both the heartbreak and the rough musician life might make her want to ask for her old factory job back.

There are a few benefits to watching 1980s East German films like Konrad Wolf and Wolfgang Kohlhaase’s Solo Sunny. It’s basically, obviously, a time capsule of a time and place that Westerns see through some grim associations and stereotypes. That former country’s authoritarian policies can still seep into everyday life, like Sunny’s neighbours snitching on her actions. Sunny’s existence is an anomaly, but she’s also proof that subversion can still exist even in stifling social environments. She’s also not alone because her bandmates and Ralph serve as company, sitting around in buildings that are decaying.

I will give the benefit of the doubt that the art direction and location scouting for this film is a deliberate choice, and I say that as a compliment, as it seems like these characters choose where to live and go. Most of Solo Sunny takes place in apartment buildings, like the one where the protagonist chooses to live in.  There’s that apartment as well as the one where Ralph lives in, taking over a dead woman’s lease. The fact she’s impressed by the Indian music he plays is also an interesting choice, character and worldbuilding wise.

Solo Sunny has a 60/40 balance in depicting its protagonist’s romantic and professional life. There’s a part of me though that feels like her being a musician is the film’s selling point but that seems lacking. Most of the film is her conversations with Ralph, or him playing her music, or their argument after he cheats. Thankfully, at least, there are some moments of her on the road, scenes when she has to take insults from her band’s emcee. I’d rather have more of those scenes because they’re indicative of emotions that anyone can relate to.

The film becomes more interesting once Ralph is out of the picture and real heartbreak hits Solo Sunny‘s titular character. The breakup and backstage drama gets to be too much for Sunny and she temporarily goes back to work. Her former boss calling her Ingrid instead of Sunny hits harder than anything that Ralph can do to her. The factory scene itself feels like any scene in the West where a free spirit has to give up. Seeing that scene will get viewers guessing as to whether or not she’ll return to the artform that she loves.

Solo Sunny is available to stream in MUBI, which-