As of: February 11, 2024, 5:30 p.m
By: Rudolf Ogiermann
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Split
Accident or rampage?
Charlotte Lindholm (Maria Furtwängler, right) and Anaïs Schmitz (Florence Kasumba) at the crime scene.
© Christine Schröder/NDR
A tired Romanian parcel driver, a detective director with a dark secret and two detectives who are not only competitors in the job - a lot of material for this “crime scene” that is only partially convincing.
(Spoiler alert!)
The pressure in the depot, the pressure on the street, and last but not least the pressure from the customers - this tour leads to catastrophe on the shortest route and with just a few impressive pictures.
The focus here is not on a classic murder; the victims of this “ghost ride”, as the title of this ARD “crime scene” from Göttingen, were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The perpetrator, a young Romanian, and the victims did not know each other.
This crime thriller, in which it is “only” important to clarify whether this is an accident or a shooting spree, is largely a criticism of the inhumane conditions under which parcel service drivers have to work; it shines the spotlight to the system in which responsibility is passed from top to bottom.
This is probably close to reality and told without a lot of pedagogy, but it wouldn't be a full-length film on its own.
That's why the author (together with Stefan Dähnert) and director Christina Hartmann included a second narrative strand in this plot, which really gives the story drive - a case of domestic violence, of all things in the crime director's marriage.
Hartmann beautifully shows how the boss's ability to blackmail slows down the investigation.
In addition, the director manages to show the full tragedy of this toxic relationship beyond all the clichés.
The love triangle between investigators Charlotte Lindholm and Anaïs Schmitz and her husband, forensic doctor Nick Schmitz, creates additional tension.
Happy?
Tereza and Gerd Liebig (Bibiana Beglau and Luc Feit).
© Christine Schröder/NDR
If a lot is told about the private lives of criminals, you need good actors.
While Bibiana Beglau and Luc Feit as Tereza and Gerd Liebig can give their characters a profile (apart from the silly idea of attributing Romanian roots to Tereza Liebig), it takes Maria Furtwängler, Florence Kasumba and Daniel Donskoy out of the curve - their conflicts seem implausible and constructed towards the end of the collaboration in Göttingen.
A noticeable scratch in an otherwise good film.