Christian Petzoldis one of the greatest working filmmakers in the world today. Here’s hoping he’s nothing like Leon, the insufferable narcissistic boor of a writer at the center of his 10th feature, “Afire.”

Perhaps intended as a satiric deconstruction of a self-centered artist, Leon (Thomas Schubert) is struggling with his second novel as he travels with his friend Felix (Langston Uibel) to a secluded house near the Baltic Sea owned by Felix’s mother.

Felix has a project to finish as well, a book of photography. When they arrive, they find the house is already occupied by Nadja (Paula Beer), a seasonal food worker who rides her bike to her ice cream stand on the beach and has loud sex with Devid (Enno Trebs) at night.

Devid is a lifeguard at the beach and has his own place, but eventually spends all his time at the house, and even changes teams: He becomes Felix’s lover, and apparently that’s cool with Nadja.

But this is no “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.” Despite three other extremely interesting characters, Petzold keeps his focus firmly on Leon the grouch, who is trying to finish his novel in time for a visit from his publisher (Matthias Brandt). What’s hilarious is that his three housemates go out of their way to try to reach him, when most sane people would have given up.

All the while, there is a murky thematic element to “Afire”: the threat of wildfires, which has plagued Germany of late.

Petzold’s examination of post-World War II guilt, survival and identity in the“Vertigo”-like 2014 drama“Phoenix”is one of the last decade’s greatest films. He has also addressed the legacy of the former East Germany in“Barbara”(2012), Kafkaesque autocracies in“Transit”(2018) and modern-day mythology in“Undine”(2020). Those films are so interesting and alive, and that’s what makes “Afire” so head-scratching.

In the press materials provided by distributors Sideshow and Janus Films, Petzold said he conceived of the film during the pandemic lockdown — that makes sense, considering the sparseness of the setting and small cast — and was inspired by the character studies of French filmmaker Éric Rohmer and Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.

Unfortunately, he needed inspiration from another great artist: Christian Petzold.

Reach G. Allen Johnson:ajohnson@sfchronicle.com