This 2009 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film presents you with the facts, the complications and the fall-out linking two couples on opposite ends of a socio-economic scale.
Austrian ex-con Alex (Johannes Krisch) and Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko) are enjoying a clandestine relationship in the city. She’s a prostitute working at a brothel where Alex works as an errand boy/handyman. When the boss wants to take Tamara out of the club to work appointments in an apartment, she is trapped. She owes the boss a huge chunk of money (30K Euros) and declining the offer proves difficult.
Couple Susanne (Ursula Strauss) and Robert (Andreas Lust) live peacefully in the countryside. Their marriage is struggling as a result of Susanne’s recent miscarriage. Susanne believes conceiving will not happen, due to something in Robert’s reproductive DNA not jibing with hers.
(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)
Alex devises a scheme to rob a bank to get Tamara out of her situation. The earnings will payoff her debt and bankroll 
them into a life away from the city, away from the seedy boss and his henchmen. The robbery doesn’t go as planned and Alex loses Tamara. Now, an investigation into Robert’s actions and judgment at the robbery are called into question. He pulls away from Susanne and their relationship strains further.
Alex heads to the countryside to lie low and visit his elderly grandfather. He arrives stoic and introverted. His grandfather is friendly with Susanne who visits often and enjoys the grandfather’s accordion playing. She meets Alex and is drawn to him. She learns Alex is hell-bent on revenge, but doesn’t have a clue that his plan for revenge will strike close. The psychologically tangled plot is a winner that will keep you plugged in. The fantastic twist of an ending makes this one excellent.
Writer/Director: Götz Spielmann
Country: Austria
Genre: Thriller
Run time: 117 minutes
Scale: 5
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