Das Tal der Mörder (2020)

Eva Kufner is a law student from Frankfurt. She travels to Kantersberg, in a remote valley in the Austrian state of Salzburg, where she starts working on the Gasser family’s farm under a false name. She wants to find evidence to support her recently deceased mother Alma Kufner’s claim that Anton Gasser, a marble quarry owner and stonemason, murdered Eva’s father, Lino Kufner, in 1988, and has now also murdered his own wife, Theresa, without ever being held accountable. Eva promised her mother on her deathbed that she would bring the alleged double murderer Anton Gasser to justice. But the charismatic, powerful Gasser, who sees something special in her, makes that difficult. His sons Jakob and Florian also see her as more than just an employee. Eva begins to struggle with her conflicted feelings for Anton, wavering between fear, fascination and affection, while being drawn into the family’s power struggles. Before long, she is no longer sure whether Gasser really is a murderer. Florian is deeply affected by the loss of his mother, while Jakob accuses his father of being partly responsible for her death by allegedly driving her to suicide. Florian, however, tells Eva that Jakob had argued with their mother shortly before she died. Jakob, in turn, asks what brought Eva to the Gassers’ farm and wants to see her papers. When she was hired as a housekeeper, Eva said they had been stolen. Anton then begins investigating Eva’s identity. The police inform Anton Gasser that the investigation into his wife’s death is being closed, as they believe it was an accident. Thea, the Gassers’ cook, and her husband Kurt, who does odd jobs for the family, tell Eva that Lydia, Anton’s mother, died by suicide when he was eight years old. Lino was Toni’s best friend until Lino stole his fiancée, Alma, away from him. From Katharina “Kathi” Oberhofer, who works at the village inn and is in a relationship with Jakob, Eva learns that Theresa had an affair with Martin Steib, the choir director. Theresa may have wanted to leave her husband and been killed by him for that reason. It is also unclear why Anton burned Theresa’s personal belongings and documents after her death. Jakob resents Eva’s relationship with Anton. He suspects that she is after the Gassers’ wealth and is trying to secure an inheritance. Eva discovers a deep scar on Anton’s back; according to him, it came from a fight. After Jakob learns from Kathi that Eva wanted her to go to the police about Theresa’s affair with Martin, he confronts Eva. Eva claims that the police are looking for her for stealing medication, which is why she has gone into hiding at the Gassers’ farm. After Anton learns about Theresa’s affair, he goes after Martin. Martin admits that Theresa had decided to stay with Anton. Steib followed her and pushed her down into the marble quarry. He then helped search for Theresa for two days. Eva accuses Kurt of having given false testimony in court at the time of her father Lino’s accidental death, providing Anton with an alibi. At last, she reveals her true identity to Anton. When she asks whether he killed her father, he says that he and Lino had argued because Lino was having an affair with Alma, to whom Anton was engaged. During the fight, Lino fell to his death. Eva demands that Anton turn himself in to the police for murdering her father. Peter Colb from the public prosecutor’s office overhears their conversation and Gasser’s confession to murdering Lino from the next room. Eva returns to Frankfurt.