To outward appearances, the life of the Perkingers is peaceful. A police officer, Uwe leaves his wife Christine and their daughter Clara at home every day in their nice home in a quiet neighborhood. But their happiness is a façade, behind which hides a brutal man whose violence is slowly contaminating the nuclear family, which Christine is trying to protect, no matter what the price is to her daughter.

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Highly acclaimed thanks to his documentary, 2006’s Into Great Silence, German director Philip Gröning this time explores a different kind of silence – surrounding domestic violence – which won the 2013 Special Jury Prize in Venice. Unfortunately, this movie, chopped into 59 seemingly endless chapters, fails to stir up the emotions that such an intense subject deserves. With narration that lacks nerve and characters that remain superficial, The Policeman’s Wife digs its own grave during the course of three long hours. Between a wrought atmosphere punctuated by bits of weirdness like the mysterious and quiet old man, and a notable lack of finesse notable in certain scenes, Philip Gröning’s movie leaves behind a taste of failure.