Der Weihnachtskrieg (2013)

The neighboring Achenbach and Wieland families, residents of a new housing development on the outskirts of Cologne, have been feuding for as long as anyone can remember. While car salesman August Achenbach, his spoiled wife Yvonne, and their modest teenage son Gero work hard to maintain their nouveau-riche image, caretaker Thomas, his stressed-out housewife Kerstin, and their daughter Mara lead a considerably less glamorous life. What both families have in common is the challenge of finding childcare: since Yvonne and Kerstin want to escape their domestic duties as soon as possible, both the Achenbachs and the Wielands want a place for their toddler in the only daycare center in town that still has any availability. When the new daycare director, Johannes Herder, moves into the neighborhood and reveals that there is only one place left to award, the two families launch a bitter battle to win the favor of the Christmas-loving Herder. What begins with minor favors and a contest to see who can put up the more impressive Christmas lights soon leads to psychological tests that Herder intends to use to assess the parenting skills of the two couples. Kerstin is forced to prove her abilities as a “lioness mother,” while Yvonne has to show that she can live with fewer privileges. Thomas, in turn, is supposed to prove his masculinity in a fistfight, while August must either score points with his honesty or confess to his wife that he is having an affair with his colleague Lina. After both couples learn that Mara Wieland is pregnant by Gero Achenbach, with whom she is secretly in a relationship, they decide, despite everything, to make one last grand gesture and invite Herder to spend Christmas Eve with them. He brings along his eccentric friend Harry and initially continues testing Thomas and Kerstin with calculated provocations. But when Mara loses her temper over his behavior, Herder takes offense and refuses the Wielands a place for their son. The Christmas evening at August and Yvonne’s then threatens to spiral out of control when numerous uninvited guests show up. While August tries to limit the damage, Yvonne lets Herder pressure her into doing him a favor in the bedroom. When the fire department and police arrive, Herder slips away unnoticed, and the party is broken up. Detective Dabrock of the criminal police finally reveals to both couples that Herder is a notorious con man who merely led both families to believe he was the new daycare director, and that a place at the daycare had never been at stake. Meanwhile, Gero and Mara have set off for the airport to elope to Las Vegas, where their child is to be born. Their parents follow them and manage to convince them in time to stay in Germany. The following year, both families gather at the Wielands’ for Christmas together. Gero and Mara have put their schooling on hold and are now parents. August, meanwhile, has fallen out of favor with his boss and is now unemployed, while Thomas has scaled back his career ambitions for his wife’s sake and taken over caring for their son. As they exchange Christmas presents, Gero astonishes everyone present by revealing that the previous day he became a millionaire by selling Google an application software program he had developed himself. In the closing scene, Herder is shown disguised as a wheelchair-using landlord renting out an apartment in Schwabing. He tests a prospective couple of tenants and questions them about their passion for Christmas.