Das perfekte Geheimnis (2019)

The married couple Eva and Rocco invite their friends over for dinner at their attic apartment in Munich. Before the guests arrive, an argument breaks out between Eva, a therapist, and her teenage daughter Sophie after Eva finds condoms in Sophie’s bag and confronts her about them. Sophie is on her way to see her boyfriend Mike, and her relationship with her controlling mother is becoming increasingly strained; she feels Eva is once again trying to dictate what she should do. Rocco, who is able to mediate between the two, has something else on his mind: while the amateur cook is busy preparing the food, he receives revealing selfies on his phone from an acquaintance. Eva, who has been secretly keeping an eye on her husband for some time, is suspicious, but learns nothing about this. First to arrive are the couple Carlotta and Leo. Leo, who put his career as a technical drafter on hold in favor of his wife, who returned to work at an advertising agency after the birth of their twins, resents his lot as a stay-at-home dad and full-time father. Carlotta, meanwhile, feels pushed into second place: the copywriter, who usually works late into the evening and is rarely at home, has a distant relationship with her children. Bianca and Simon accompany them. Unlike Carlotta and Leo, the animal naturopath and free spirit have only recently fallen in love and are trying to build a relationship based on trust. Bianca, the youngest of the group, has only recently met Simon’s longtime friends, however, and sometimes feels they look down on her. After Pepe, a high school teacher, arrives without his girlfriend Anna, who was also expected and is supposedly ill, and sets up the telescope he brought on the balcony to watch the lunar eclipse predicted for that night, the group takes their seats in the dining room. Over Rocco’s inedible food and plenty of wine, they begin a lively discussion about honesty. On the spur of the moment, they decide to put their mutual trust to the test and agree to a game devised by Eva: everyone must share with the others every activity that takes place on their smartphone. Carlotta and Bianca are immediately enthusiastic about the idea, while the men agree only reluctantly. What was meant to be a harmless game among friends quickly turns into a scandal. Leo, who is having an affair with a woman he knows from the playground, is expecting a revealing photo from her and asks Pepe to switch phones with him so he can cover it up. But when Leo has to use Pepe’s phone in return, Pepe’s contact Hannes gets in touch. His suggestive messages lead the others to believe that he is sleeping with Leo. Leo does not deny his supposed bisexuality to his friends, afraid his actual affair will come to light, and their lack of understanding leaves Carlotta reeling. She gets drunk. Then, after receiving an unmistakable voicemail from her colleague, she feels compelled to admit to her friends that she has a drug problem brought on by pressure to succeed in her career. Pepe ends the farce by confessing to the phone swap and revealing to the others that he has kept his homosexuality secret for many years. At school, a student’s father discriminates against him because of it, and Pepe had expected his friends not to understand. Meanwhile, Simon receives a call from his colleague, who tells him she is pregnant by him. Bianca is deeply hurt by the news and immediately breaks up with him. Eva, who is also secretly having an affair with Simon, slaps him while the others are away and then does the same as Bianca. The guests then leave the apartment separately. Eva and Rocco are left alone. They talk on the balcony and make up, but neither tells the other about their own affair. Some time after the dinner, Leo and Carlotta have also found their way back to each other and have decided to switch roles: while he pursues a job offer, Carlotta now takes care of their two children full-time. Meanwhile, to prove their friendship to Pepe, who has been hurt, Rocco, Leo, and Simon beat up the father of one of Pepe’s students. The man then backs down and settles the conflict he had provoked. The four longtime friends reconcile and go on a trip together. When a phone rings along the way, Rocco pulls out an old-fashioned second phone, thereby confirming his affair to the others. As Pepe, Leo, and Simon wrestle with him, trying to snatch the device away, Rocco throws the mobile phone into the Isar.