Perhaps not every film can translate its message to different nations. That appears to be the case after viewing Four Minus Three. At the core of Adrian Goiginger’s latest film, there is a tenderness there to be seen. Yet it is how much of the film is presented to the audience where it loses viewers. Another story about the importance of letting our loved ones go, Four Minus Three becomes jumbled up in the fictionalization of what happens to be based on a true story.
As his fifth feature-length film, Goiginger has no shortage of experience in the craft. He welcomes the audience into the lives of these clowns in a warm way. Normally seen as children’s birthday entertainment, or the killer in horror films, in Four Minus Three, clowns are much more than that. Giving a new perspective on clown culture, as well as sharing a story of love and loss, Four Minus Three premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday February 16, 2026. While love, loss, compassion, and how we choose to move forward are all universal feelings, how they are experienced individually changes dependant on the person and their circumstances.
Mother and father, Barbara (Valerie Pachne) and Heli (Robert Stadlober), are known to their children as parents of their “clown family”. Though a couple, Barbara and Heli see their professions slightly differently. As opposed to Heli’s more staged clown work, Barbara believes in the power of taking a failure and turning it around. Barbara’s positive outlook on life is shaken when she loses her husband and two children in a horrendous traffic accident. This loss takes the most harrowing toll and she wonders the purpose in life and her career as a clown. By confronting her fate and new reality, Barbara will have to decide how she is going to deal with her grief. Choosing whether or not to wallow in sorrow or understand that life goes on despite what has happened.
There is a lot to be taken from Four Minus Three. On one hand, you are presented a film that feels slightly unfocused and hard to follow. But on the other, even if you cannot follow the entire story, there is a message there to be understood. As a fictionalized account of a woman’s life and family, there are plot holes missing. In which the time changes from past to present, there appears to be no true distinction between when and where you are. Though you can feel the pull Barbara’s past has on her, it is not easily shared. That being said, as with all dramatized events, more elements of fantasy can be thrown in the mix. Through methods of fiction, Barbara’s memory is shared in a more magical way. A sad story, true, but the magic that can be found within is still there.
The truth of the matter is plain and simple. When you lose a loved one, or in this case, your whole family, nobody around you knows how to act. For Barbara, as a clown she wants to share joy with the world. But what happens when you are no longer seen as a clown and instead as a widow? It is in these moments, the viewer begins to understand what we are supposed to be shown. It becomes clear that Barbara’s life had not always been filled with laughter, even as a clown. There is so much more to people than what is on the outside.
When you lose loved ones, you might feel like you will never be able to move on. Where in truth, they would not want you to wallow in pity. What life do you have left to offer, to remember them with, if you simply give up? Moving on may be difficult, yes, but once you do, life begins to change. Your family will always be there with you, in your heart and in what you do. In choosing to move on, you will be making sure your life is lived to the fullest. Four Minus Three, albeit somewhat lost at times, reminds us of these important aspects of human life. It is what we choose to do after the trauma that truly shows how much we loved and cared for those who are gone.
