Cops (2018)

Inspector Christoph “Burschi” Horn is an ambitious recruit in training with the WEGA, a special unit of the Austrian police in Vienna. Combat and peer pressure are part of his everyday life. During an operation, Harald Malinowski, who is mentally ill, attacks his superior, Konstantin “Konsti” Blago, with a knife. “Burschi” then shoots Malinowski in what he believes to be self-defense, seriously injuring him. Blago thanks him for saving his life, and his fellow officers celebrate him as a hero. After the traumatic incident, Christoph’s doctor and his father Heinz—who, after suffering burnout as commander of the police station at Karlsplatz, now works for the police as a football-fan liaison officer—advise him to take several weeks of sick leave. Christoph refuses, however, and tries to maintain the appearance of a strong man. Although he suffers a panic attack during an operation at a football match, Christoph manages to conceal it and earns Konstantin’s support. At a private party, the young inspector is welcomed into the officers’ inner circle. But when “Burschi” learns from his colleague Toni, while on an outing to the Prater with his girlfriend Nicky, that Malinowski has died of his injuries, he begins to suffer from all the symptoms of trauma, including flashbacks and panic attacks, and becomes aggressive toward Nicky, who is also training to become a police officer. During Chief Inspector Rudi Hofer’s reconstruction of the incident, District Inspector Marianne Kelch criticizes the WEGA’s handling of the operation and claims that Malinowski dropped the knife after the first shot. Christoph suffers another panic attack and needs medical attention. His boss, Blago, then abandons him, saying Christoph does not have what it takes to be a WEGA officer. Christoph turns to alcohol, and his girlfriend leaves him. After “Burschi” finds details of Malinowski’s funeral online, he goes to the cemetery and watches the ceremony from a distance. District Inspector Kelch is there too, and speaks to Christoph after the funeral. She calls the operation negligent homicide, but blames not the officer who fired the fatal shot but Blago, who failed to exercise the necessary caution when dealing with a mentally ill person and should not have forced open the door to Malinowski’s apartment. She asks “Burschi” whether he would be willing to support her account of events in a report to the public prosecutor’s office, so that Blago can no longer lead WEGA operations on the streets. Christoph goes to Blago and warns him, whereupon Blago takes him back into the WEGA team. Some time later, they respond to an operation in which a policewoman has been seriously injured by a masked assailant. At the scene, “Burschi” is horrified to discover that the injured woman is District Inspector Kelch. When a witness tells him the assailant was wearing American military boots, “Burschi” realizes it was his colleague Toni Woschitz. The next day, he confronts Toni. Toni admits what happened and says he beat Kelch into a coma to protect his superior, Blago. Christoph headbutts him. “Burschi” begins to doubt his commitment to the WEGA and seeks advice from his father, Heinz. He also apologizes to Nicky, but she does not want to resume their relationship. At a football match, Christoph finally refuses to carry out an operation ordered by Konstantin because he believes it will not de-escalate the situation. After the operation, Blago yells at him and hits him. Christoph finally accuses Blago of having shot someone because of his “hunting zeal.” Blago also learns that Toni attacked District Inspector Kelch, and is outraged. After the swearing-in ceremony and graduation, WEGA officer Christoph is called to an operation; his ex-girlfriend Nicky is already there. A woman is threatening to throw herself and her small child out of the window of a high-rise building. Christoph tries to de-escalate the situation and calmly talks to the woman. He manages to save the child, but the woman jumps from the window.