The Golden Glove


The Golden Glove is a 2019 internationally co-produced horror drama film directed by Fatih Akin. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of Heinz Strunk’s eponymous novel and tells the story of the German serial killer Fritz Honka who murdered four women between 1970 and 1975 and hid their body parts in his apartment. The Golden Glove is named after the pub in the red-light district of Hamburg where the defaced alcoholic Honka met his victims. The Golden Glove is the first film by Fatih Akin to receive an 18 rating in Germany.

Cast

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Golden Glove holds an approval rating of 50% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 5.61/10. Its consensus reads, Grim to a fault, The Golden Glove embarks on a well-crafted but deeply unsavory descent into the depraved mind and rank brutality of a serial killer." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
After the premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival The Golden Glove received mostly negative reviews. Peter Bradshaw awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars. David Ehrlich of Indiewire gave it a D and called it “disgusting” and “one of the most vile serial killer movies ever made”. The film was criticized for its brutality and lack of substance and psychological depth. Some German critics described it as a failed or inadequate attempt to adapt the novel and criticized Akin for making a nauseating horror film out of Strunk’s artistic presentation of the events.