Ausgerechnet Weihnachten (2005)

After some of her students come down with salmonella poisoning during a pre-Christmas ski trip, teacher Sina sets off late on Christmas Eve to travel home by train from Salzburg to Munich with a small group of the remaining sick students, including her son Felix. The hopelessly overcrowded carriages are packed with travelers heading to be with their families. The students nevertheless manage to claim the last available seats for themselves. Sina alone is forced to find another compartment, where, shortly afterward, she runs into her husband Carl of all people. She has been living apart from him for a year, ever since he had an affair with a colleague. They are both surprised to see each other and keep their distance—especially since other passengers in the compartment are watching the scene unfold, including Min Wang, a lonely, heavily pregnant violinist, and the talkative Austrian retired couple Lisl and Franz, who are on their way to celebrate Christmas with their grown children. Also there is Fritz, a native of Berlin, who had planned to spend the holidays in the snow with his boyfriend but, after an argument, is now traveling home alone. Sina and Carl, too, fall back into old habits and start bickering again. The situation comes to a head when a tree that has fallen onto the tracks blocks the train for hours. Frustrated but patient, the passengers spend Christmas Eve together on the train, with coffee and music. Felix and his classmate Jakob, however, decide they will not sit around doing nothing any longer and set off into the nearby woods to get help. Sina and Carl do not notice the boys are missing at first. When Min Wang goes into labor, Sina assists her husband, who is a doctor, with the delivery. When train attendant Ulla points out to the couple that the children are missing, Sina and Carl follow them into the densely snow-covered woods. They clash again there, but soon come across Felix and Jakob. By the time they return to the train, the Red Cross has arrived and is taking care of Min Wang and the newborn. While the passengers move the festivities outside to have a snowball fight and set off flares, Sina and Carl have a heart-to-heart, reminiscing and growing close again. At Lisl and Franz's urging, Fritz also decides to overcome his pride and call his boyfriend to try to save their relationship. A little later, the train finally resumes its journey to Munich, where Carl says goodbye to Sina and Felix. But they promise each other that, unlike what they had planned, they will spend Christmas Day together.