Elementary school teacher Nathalie Gerber meets 23-year-old Daniel A. (Jonathan Perleth) in the Rostock pub “Knockout”. The two had previously met on a dating platform. At the end of the evening, Gerber wants to get in her car and drive home. But in the parking lot she sees her neighbor Marc Wigand (Max Krause), who is following her and ambushing her. An argument ensues, Gerber falls and is dead. Daniel A. is the last person to have seen Gerber alive, which is why the police want to question him as a witness. But Daniel doesn’t dare to testify – he’s a trans man and hasn’t come out yet. Only a few people know about it. In addition to the inner turmoil, there is now the great concern that Daniel’s father could find out his secret, because he also works for the police. While the inspectors Katrin König (Anneke Kim Sarnau) and Melly Böwe (Lina Beckmann) are looking for Nathalie Gerber’s murderer, Daniel tries everything to avoid being found. The situation becomes extremely stressful.
The film does not tell a classic criminal case, but the personal story of the trans man Daniel A. Screenwriter Benjamin Hessler and director Dustin Loose succeed in doing this very movingly and without clichés. Credit is due to lead actor Jonathan Perleth. He is transsexual himself and was at the beginning of his transition during filming. It is important “that stories with trans characters are told at all,” he told ARD. Basically, he thinks it is desirable for trans characters to be played by trans people. “It’s about the fact that it’s becoming clear at very different angles that more representation is needed,” says Perleth.
For the viewers, the perpetrator is clear from the start. They always have a knowledge advantage over the inspectors. Anyone who expects a traditional crime thriller with a lot of suspense might therefore be a bit disappointed.
After Commissioner Sascha Bukow (Charly Hübner) left, his half-sister Melly Böwe (Lina Beckmann) took over his position. Bukow’s ex-partner Katrin König (Anneke Kim Sarnau) is anything but enthusiastic about it – and lets the new one feel it openly. In one scene, she fires scones across the office that Böwe baked to debut. “Probably taste like shit,” König comments dryly. And otherwise there is still a lot of jerking in the joint investigations of the two women, who are two completely different characters.
The case is of secondary importance, but rarely has the subject of transsexuality been told so sensitively and calmly on TV. It’s worth turning on for that.
The Rostock commissioner Katrin König recently investigated these cases:
