The abused body of a young woman is found near a club in Kiel. The club’s video surveillance soon gives Klaus Borowski (Axel Milberg) and Mila Sahin (Almila Bagriacik) a suspect: Mario Lohse (Joseph Bundschuh). The shy-looking outsider regularly watches misogynist videos on the internet forum of the so-called pick-up artist Hank Massmann (Arnd Klawitter). And he also reacts aggressively to investigator Sahin. In the immediate vicinity of the crime scene, Borowski also discovers a “14”, a symbol of American neo-Nazis, trampled into the soft ground. It soon becomes clear that more women are at risk.
The “crime scene” is dedicated to the growing “Incel” movement. The abbreviation stands for “Involuntary Celibacy”. It’s about sexually frustrated straight men who fantasize about violence against women and share conspiracy theories in online forums. Hatred of women is the common denominator that brings them together, and the movement often mixes with the far-right scene. The thriller manages to show the path of men’s radicalization and at the same time makes the many facets of everyday sexism palpable. It is particularly positive that this “crime scene” does without blatant scenes of violence, and instead tells the story calmly, but all the more forcefully.
It’s a bit of a shame that the classic prototype of a gunman is used for the main suspect: Lohse is a typical loser who suffers from a strict boss and psychological problems, thirsts for recognition and knows how to cover his tracks on the dark web. The followers of the “Incel” movement are by no means all insane nerds. Since the topic is more in the foreground and not the case itself, no classic thriller arc develops. In addition, as is so often the case with the Kiel “crime scene” team, the dialogues are sometimes presented somewhat clumsily.
Borowski, the feminist: In this thriller, the inspector is almost the only man who doesn’t hate women. The scenes in which he mingles with the followers of the “pick-up artist”, talks about alleged marital problems and quickly gets his foot in the door are particularly interesting. His colleague Sahin represents all women. She, too, is confronted with sexism in everyday life, be it casual (a colleague calls her “dear”) or actually offensive. As a viewer, at some point you just admire her for staying cool despite the accumulated injustices.
Be sure to tune in, because the topic is omnipresent. At the latest since the right-wing extremist attacks in Halle and Hanau, the “Incel” movement and above all the anti-feminist type of perpetrator should also be known in this country. Raising awareness of this is important because in Germany a woman is still killed by her partner or her ex every third day. Nevertheless, femicide, the killing of women because of their gender, is not yet a criminal offense in its own right. The hate forums on the Internet also remain unpunished, although they contribute to increasing violence. If you want to take a look into the abysses of the misogyny movement, you can see all the misery in this “crime scene”.
The “Tatort” episode “Borowski and the Fear of the White Men” was first broadcast on March 7, 2021. ARD repeats the case on Sunday, August 13, 2023 at 8:15 p.m.
