German actress Sandra Hüller earned widespread critical acclaim in 2016 for her lead role in Toni Erdmann, the Maren Ade-directed comedy-drama that became one of the most celebrated European films of the decade. At the time, many in the industry expected the performance to serve as her springboard into major Hollywood roles, given the film's awards success and the praise heaped on her performance.

Despite that acclaim, Hüller has said that the anticipated surge in high-profile offers largely failed to materialise, leaving her career on a slower trajectory than expected in the years that followed. It was not until 2023, with acclaimed performances in Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, that she achieved the level of international recognition, including an Academy Award nomination, that Toni Erdmann had once seemed to promise.