Der Nachname (2022)

Two years after the events of *The First Name*, siblings Thomas and Elisabeth are invited by their mother, Dorothea, to the family home on Lanzarote. Elisabeth and Stephan’s marriage is going through a rough patch because the children’s English private school is draining their finances, and Elisabeth is also said to have started an affair with a colleague. The issue causing tension in Thomas and Anna’s relationship is their wish to have a second child, since their firstborn, Paula, has already pushed them both to their limits. Shortly after they arrive, it emerges that Dorothea and her former foster son René have secretly married, and Dorothea has taken René’s surname, meaning she now has a different name from her children. Thomas in particular is shocked and accuses René of trying to take the place of his late father, Paul. Following another of Thomas’s outbursts, Dorothea and René later tell their guests that they want a child and, because of Dorothea’s age, plan to have the lesbian housekeeper Lucia act as a “surrogate.” This leads to a heated argument. That evening, Anna confronts Elisabeth about her affair. Elisabeth admits that she made up the affair simply to get Stephan to pay attention to her again. Elisabeth confronts Anna with the fact that, while looking for headache pills, she found an opened blister pack of birth-control pills in Anna’s toiletry bag. Anna admits that she has secretly been using the pill to prevent a second pregnancy so that she can focus on her acting career. Thomas and Stephan also talk things out and, without realizing it, eat cannabis brownies. Thomas tells Stephan that he has erectile problems and regularly takes Viagra. Stephan confesses that he did not get a promotion to dean and has now run into financial difficulties because of his children’s private school. Thomas then promises to support him and turns the conversation to the property, which, it turns out, would mostly be inherited by René after Dorothea’s death. The next morning, when René is confronted with the accusation that he married Dorothea for financial gain and wants to have a child with her for the same reason, he denies the allegations and says that he simply wants to have a real family at last. From old family photographs, Elisabeth has discovered that Lucia is Paul’s biological daughter and therefore a half-sister to her and Thomas. René is initially deeply disappointed with Dorothea, since she had kept this secret from him too. However, their mother manages to calm everyone down by appealing to the strength of the family’s solidarity. Elisabeth and Stephan then overcome their differences, while Thomas and Anna put their plans for a child on hold for the time being. A year later, Dorothea and René become the parents of twins, together with Lucia.