bestefreunde (2014)

In their mid-thirties, Susi and Mark are still roaming southern climes as globetrotters, unattached in both their professional and personal lives. As “travel journalists,” they make a modest living writing travel features without expecting much. She takes the photographs, and he writes accompanying blogs under the titular hashtag “bestefreunde” (“best friends”). The only constant, especially for Susi, is their long friendship. Back in cold, unloved Berlin, Susi is immediately confronted with the harsh realities of her life: the electricity and gas in the old rental apartment from her childhood have been cut off, and the property management would rather get rid of her altogether so it can renovate the building as a luxury property. Her wealthy father, who is away himself, will not help her either, and her plans to finance a trip to South America through a magazine fall through at the first attempt. But that is not all: Mark is slowly leaving eternal adolescence behind, postpones South America and decides to earn some money first. Eventually, he catches Susi completely off guard by suddenly introducing her to his new love. Susi is a lesbian, but she evidently enjoyed Mark’s undivided attention so much that she reacts with intense jealousy. She tries in vain to find a neutral position; before long, she is trying to drive a wedge between Vivian and Mark. When Mark seems determined to marry and thus finally settle down, away from the familiar closeness of the two of them, Susi is willing to use any means necessary. She lets down a friend, using his daughter for her own purposes instead of looking after her, and lets down her new lesbian girlfriend as well. She even pretends to be straight and pulls out all the stops to hit on Mark. It does not work. In the end, she interrupts Mark’s wedding in church, but he stands by Vivian and breaks with Susi. She must painfully say goodbye to the only constant in her life so far and, at least in this respect, is forced to “grow up.”