1000 Arten Regen zu beschreiben (2017)

On his 18th birthday, Mike locks himself in his room, ignoring his family as they try to wish him a happy birthday, and from then on refuses all personal contact. He is seen only from behind in flashbacks at the beginning and end of the film; throughout the rest of it, we see only the closed door and, through the gap beneath it, the shadows of his feet. His parents, Susanne and Thomas, and his sister, Miriam, cannot find a reason for his behavior. But Mike is an adult and has voluntarily decided to stop taking part in life outside his room, so they cannot force him to behave differently as long as he does not break the law. They often sit outside his bedroom door for hours, or even sleep there on the floor. The only messages he sends are small handwritten notes pushed under the door, reporting random rain events such as, “May 3, 10:53 a.m.: torrential rain in Hanover.” At first merely bizarre, the situation becomes increasingly stressful and puts the family to the test. Susanne remains a caring mother, leaving food and clean clothes outside Mike’s door. Thomas reproaches her: this will only encourage him; if he wants to eat, he can just come out. Thomas tries toughness and anger, and at their peak he pointedly burns everything in the house that reminds him of Mike, right outside Mike’s window. Miriam is left entirely alone by her parents, whose relationship is plunged into a serious crisis by the situation with Mike. She often sits alone outside Mike’s door for hours, trying to communicate with him or understand him, all to no avail. The emotional strain manifests itself in different kinds of irrational behavior in all three of them. Susanne finds a surrogate son in Oliver, a former friend of Mike’s who has been kicked out by his parents, and showers him with so much care and affection that it threatens to turn erotic, which in turn forces her to rebuff him with rejection. Thomas throws himself so completely into his job selling equipment for the most intensive care that he stays away from home for nights at a time and eventually steals an expensive speech-generating computer for one of his customers, which cannot be obtained legally. Miriam, consumed by the self-doubt typical of her age, first numbs herself with parties, but then, out of sheer jealousy, tries to steal Alex, her best friend Elli’s crush, and alienates herself from her entire circle of friends. The conflict is not resolved. The film ends with the remaining family, having found their way back to one another, moving out of the house and leaving Mike there. The last message Miriam slips under her brother’s door reads: “Dear Mike, rain falling on skin is the most beautiful rain.”