During a roundtable interview at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where star Daniel Brühl is being feted with the Kviff President’s Award, the actor-director-producer recalled the “very bittersweet memories” of his directorial debut, the dark German comedy “Next Door,” being chosen for competition at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival, only for the festival to be held virtually that year. Three years later, as part of Kviff’s celebration of Brühl’s career, “Next Door” is set to screen at the Grand Hall, the festival’s premiere venue, with a proper in-person audience.

Inspired by an idea that came to him while dining in a restaurant in Spain a decade ago, Brühl’s prickly film combines a meta examination of movie stardom with a stark critique of rampant gentrification. The two-hander stars Brühl as an egotistical actor, also named Daniel, who stops into a local Berlin...