Florian Pochlatko’s debut feature How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World boldly reimagines the cinematic portrayal of mental health. Pia (Luisa-Céline Gaffron), freshly discharged from a psychiatric hospital, returns to her family and struggles to rebuild her life. From reconnecting with old friends to taking a job at a copy machine company, she tries to “be normal” again. Yet the more she strives, the more alienated she feels, until the boundaries between reality and imagination blur.Through Pia’s fractured perspective, Pochlatko crafts a layered, unsettling portrait of vulnerability and resilience. Blending dark humor with formal experimentation, the film challenges conventional depictions of mental illness and places the audience inside Pia’s shifting world. How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World emerges as both intimate and universal—an urgent reflection on the human need for belonging in a world that often demands conformity.