Beste Chance (2014)

Friends Kati and Jo have not seen each other since graduating from high school five years ago. Kati is under exam stress as she works toward completing her architecture degree when she hears disturbing messages from Jo in India on her answering machine. But none of their old friends from their Bavarian hometown of Tandern wants to go with her: Mike works as a doctor, Rocky has a son and is getting married soon, and Toni also has a girlfriend and is angry that Jo has not contacted him for years. So Kati impulsively travels to India alone. At the ashram considered Jo’s last known whereabouts, she shows people Jo’s picture, but no one recognizes her. There, she gets to know Ruben, a Swiss man, and decides to continue with him to a “yoga retreat” to look for Jo. Back in Tandern, Kati’s mother hears on the radio about a bomb attack in India that may have killed European tourists as well. Worried, Kati and Jo’s fathers, Hubert and Walter, also set off for India to look for their daughters. But at the ashram, they narrowly miss Kati’s departure. On the way, Kati and Ruben grow closer, but at a train station Kati’s backpack is stolen. As she chases the thief, the thief falls and gets hurt—it is a young girl, and Kati feels sorry for her. Ruben does not want to miss the train and leaves, but Kati takes the girl to hospital and then to her family, who live in the area where she had planned to go with Ruben anyway. Meanwhile, Jo unexpectedly turns up at home in Tandern and confesses to her mother that she is pregnant. Mike realizes this when he treats Jo after she has a spell of weakness, and Rocky realizes it too. Toni, however, breaks up with his girlfriend because his feelings for Jo have resurfaced, and is then deeply hurt when he finds out by chance. Kati takes the Indian girl home—to a slum, where the father reacts angrily and beats her when his daughter, whom he had apparently sent out to beg or steal, comes back empty-handed. Kati intervenes and is attacked too. She manages to flee with the girl, but loses her backpack in the process. Hubert and Walter also lose their luggage after getting off their train during a stop in the middle of nowhere and missing its departure. They are then robbed as well, and their clothes are taken. Wearing only their underwear and socks, the two Upper Bavarians wander through India until friendly locals take them in. Kati, still accompanied by the Indian girl, runs into Ruben again at a café in the original destination town. While he goes to get something to eat, his phone rings. Astonished, Kati reads “Jo calling” on the screen and answers. Jo tells her that she is pregnant by Ruben, who had therefore lied to Kati. Kati confronts him, and during their argument the Indian girl suddenly runs off with Ruben’s wallet. Kati urges her on, then, penniless, goes to a police station. By chance, Hubert and Walter have ended up there too. After their joyful reunion, the three return to Delhi. In Tandern, Rocky’s wedding is about to take place. Chaos breaks out when his girlfriend has doubts at the last moment, but he manages to dispel them. Jo and Toni embrace too. In India, however, Kati has decided to stay longer in order to find herself. As she watches worshippers bathing on the banks of a sacred river, someone suddenly sits down beside her—it is Mike. The two smile at each other without saying a word.