From the director of iconic indie flick Run Lola Run comes Three, Tom Tykwer’s latest exploration of human motivation. If you let it, love can be as easy as one-two-three, as Tykwer proves in this atmospheric piece about bisexuality, love and longing in cosmopolitan Berlin.

One: appealingly disheveled Simon, all scruff and dimples, who’s ready to move on from tragedy.

Two: slyly humorous Hanna, wry and knowing, who wants more than the comfortable companionship she has with Simon.

Three: magnetic blonde Adam, impish and confident, an occasional father who looks for connection. Which he finds with Simon. And Hanna.

But none of the three knows what the other two are doing. Here infidelity is just what the love doctor ordered. Hesitant first approaches turn voracious, and the affairs pulse with sensuality, especially when Simon and Adam smolder on-screen. As each coupling’s relationship grows more satisfying physically and spiritually, the trio’s palpable chemistry drives the story to a dizzying climax. These spheres must collide eventually — right?

Sophie Rois, Devid Streisow, and Tykwer regular Sebastian Schipper give exquisite performances, lending an air of enigmatic charisma to characters sorting out what it means to live life with abandon in one of the great cities of the world. Tykwer fractures the first half of the film with haunting poetry and stark fantasies. He pulls back from these as the characters’ lives slide into focus, which feels like taking a step back from a chaotic mosaic to see a fresh and invigorating story come into view.