Der Sohn (2017)

Single mother Katharina lives with her sixteen-year-old son Stefan in a provincial small town where everyone knows everyone else. They share an unusually close relationship marked by mutual dependence. Above all, Katharina is deeply attached to her son: she still helps him get dressed and even bathe, which sometimes leads to awkward situations between mother and adolescent. Although the teenager is often out and about, rides his bike a lot, and has an athletic build, Stefan cannot find the vocational training place he longs for, one involving physical work. He has no girlfriend and is shunned by boys his own age. Stefan has suffered from persistent asthma since early childhood and depends on his inhaler. His own awkwardness and reserve make matters worse. So there is always the possibility of a phone call, an inquisitive question, or the appearance of Katharina, his ever-concerned mother. Stefan is usually alone, especially at night, when he roams the area on his bicycle and indulges his burgeoning sexual desire by watching couples having sex. Katharina works at the hair salon of Marlies, who is outwardly eager to be helpful. There, Katharina makes a determined effort to get Stefan socializing and encourages him to walk the young intern Lilijana home. But socially inexperienced Stefan embarrasses himself and becomes a laughingstock among the local teenagers. Katharina herself is generally friendly but reserved, despite being quite attractive and always well-groomed, and spends little time with other people apart from singing in her choir. The charming market employee Detlef Schröder tries to woo her, but his attempt at a relationship fails after their first date because of Stefan’s jealous hostility and, above all, Katharina’s peculiar inhibitions, fueled by her constant worries. Stefan, meanwhile, has found a job with the municipal horticulture department, where, after some initial difficulties, he settles in quite well. Katharina, however, is gripped by a frightening suspicion when a woman is found raped and murdered near a skate park not far from Stefan’s work site. Katharina questions her son about his nighttime activities, but Stefan, fed up with her probing questions and smothering attention, remains silent. The suspicious Katharina now follows him at night and witnesses him secretly watching prostitutes behind a brothel while masturbating. Each discovery fuels Katharina’s suspicion that Stefan may have something to do with the murder. After a second rape and murder takes place—the cases have by now become the talk of the town—Katharina discovers violent sadomasochistic porn on Stefan’s laptop, which deeply shocks her. Her concern about the boy’s seemingly out-of-control sexuality escalates to the point that, in her intrusive behavior, she grabs her own son’s crotch while he is bathing. A power struggle has long since begun between mother and son, and Stefan now really does become increasingly extreme and aggressive. Katharina feels increasingly estranged from her own child, and neither Detlef, nor her boss Marlies, nor the policeman Ralf seems like someone the desperate woman can turn to for help. So she confronts Stefan directly about her suspicions. When he gets upset and suffers life-threatening shortness of breath, Katharina first runs to get him his asthma inhaler, but after hesitating, at the last moment decides not to help her son, thereby ensuring that he dies by suffocation. A few weeks later, Katharina is still deeply depressed over her son’s death and the circumstances surrounding it when she receives the policeman Ralf at her home. He has a shocking message to give her.