Der Mann der über Autos sprang (2010)

At the beginning, Julian, a young man, escapes from a psychiatric hospital in Berlin to walk to southern Germany, because he wants to cure the ailing father of his late best friend through the power of walking. Shortly after his escape, he meets Julianne, a doctor who is questioning her profession after the death of a young patient. For reasons that are never explained, Julian knows her name. A short time later, they meet again, and Julianne invites Julian to her home so he can rest there. When he is ready to move on, she also gives him the hiking boots of her boyfriend, Sebastian. But because things are not right in their relationship, after they run into each other once more, she impulsively joins the charismatic wanderer, even though he is not initially enthusiastic about the idea. Together, they continue their journey on foot. Along the way, they meet Ruth, a wife and mother who is being treated badly on vacation by her husband, Matthias, and is desperate about her situation. Julianne and Julian welcome her into their small group. Julian is pursued by Jan, a down-at-heel police officer who has been assigned to take him back to the clinic. What Julian is keeping secret is that he is responsible for his best friend’s death: Julian firmly believes that, through the power of his thoughts, he can jump over moving cars, and wanted to try it out with his best friend, who was driving the car. But at the last moment, his friend became frightened, swerved to avoid Julian, and crashed fatally. After narrowly missing each other a few times, the group finally encounters Jan, and all four continue on together. Jan invites them all to a hotel and locks Julian in his hotel room. But Julian manages to escape with the help of Julianne, who has become disillusioned by his lies. Ruth returns to her family with renewed self-confidence. Jan and Julianne drive to the parents of Julian’s dead friend, where Julian also arrives. He persuades Jan to try the experiment once more. Julianne arrives just as Julian jumps over Jan’s oncoming car. Julianne returns to Sebastian, and Jan finally lets Julian go and drives back to Berlin alone.