Dann kam Lucy (2012)

Saskia Martens has lived a secluded life on her sprawling horse farm ever since her husband left her for another woman twelve years ago. One day, she receives a call from the youth welfare office. Ms. Hartwig tells her that her friend Andrea has died in a car accident. Saskia is the godmother of Andrea’s daughter, Lucy, whom she last saw twelve years ago. Lucy is now 16. She was born out of wedlock, and Andrea avoided contact with the child’s father, Alex, who is now being sought. Until he is found, Lucy is supposed to live in a group home. Saskia agrees to let Ms. Hartwig bring Lucy to visit the farm. At Ms. Hartwig’s suggestion, she lets Lucy stay there until Alex has been located. Lucy turns out to be a cheeky teenager. Having grown up in London, she can’t relate much to country life, constantly takes pictures with her phone, and chats with her best friend. Saskia only sees Lucy when she comes to get her meals and take them to her room. After a week, Saskia has had enough. She persuades Lucy to help Fynn, who is paying for his architecture studies by working on the farm, take the horses out to pasture. After only a few yards, Lucy loses interest and goes back. Saskia now lays down some rules: Lucy has to do her share of the work to earn internet access, and her first task is to take the horses out to pasture. In retaliation, Lucy leaves the pasture gate open. When Saskia later calls them to the dinner they are supposed to have together, Lucy leaves after a short while. Meanwhile, the horses have escaped and have to be rounded up, and Saskia angrily orders Lucy to muck out the stables the next day. Lucy runs away, but doesn’t get far, since buses in the area only run twice a day. While mucking out the stables, the ice between Lucy and Saskia begins to thaw, and Lucy tells her godmother that she is to blame for Andrea’s death: she had argued with her mother on the phone when the connection suddenly cut off. Lucy believes that her mother was distracted by the argument and caused the accident as a result. Saskia looks into it and learns that more than ten minutes passed between the phone call and the accident. A truck driver simply failed to see Andrea. Lucy is not to blame. The news comes as a great relief to Lucy, and her relationship with Saskia improves over the following days to such an extent that Saskia offers her the chance to attend a boarding school not far from the farm. One day, the youth welfare office reports that they have found Lucy’s father, Alex, in Amsterdam. A short time later, Alex arrives at the farm. He now works as an art dealer, after his career as a painter proved rather unsuccessful. Lucy is delighted by Alex, who only learned he was her father through the youth welfare office. Saskia, on the other hand, remains skeptical, since Alex had proved unreliable in the past. Alex stays overnight, and Saskia begins to see him in a new light, even though she is not keen on his idea of turning an unused servants’ room into a studio. A little later, Saskia and Lucy visit Alex in Amsterdam. When Lucy is about to choose a room in the large loft where she will live in the future, Alex reacts with surprise, since he had assumed Lucy would continue living with Saskia. Lucy is hurt and leaves, and Saskia also accuses Alex of not having changed. The next morning, Alex is back at the door, wanting to apologize. He still has to learn how to handle his role as a father, and of course he wants Lucy to live with him. But Lucy has packed her things overnight and disappeared. Alex and Saskia launch a major search, since Lucy had planned to take a bus to Amsterdam. They search for her in Amsterdam and return to the farm exhausted the next day. Online, they see that Lucy changed her profile that morning and posted a picture. Saskia realizes Lucy is staying with Fynn. When confronted there, Lucy sees nothing wrong with her behavior. Once again, she accuses Saskia of taking everything too seriously. Now that she and Fynn are together, she would rather stay with Saskia, too. Saskia refuses to let Lucy stay with her now. For someone as solitary as she is, Lucy has crossed a line, especially since she has not apologized for her behavior. Coolly, Saskia lets Lucy and Alex leave for Amsterdam. Weeks go by without Saskia contacting Lucy or Alex. Only Fynn manages to persuade her to get in touch again. She goes to Amsterdam and learns that Alex has to give up his gallery for financial reasons. He plans to work in Basel from then on and take Lucy with him. Saskia remembers his idea of converting the servants’ quarters into a gallery and artists’ apartments, and both of them are enthusiastic about it, especially since Alex and Saskia have fallen in love. A little later, the new art gallery on the farm is officially opened, and Fynn and Lucy, as well as Saskia and Alex, can now live together.