Devot (2003)

One rainy night, a young woman stands by a bridge railing and kicks a stone into the water. Is she considering throwing herself in? Just then, a man named Henry drives by and spots her. He honks, and the two talk as if they were a client and a prostitute. He takes her home. There, she introduces herself as Anja and admits that she is not really a prostitute. She gives him his money back, but shortly afterward tries to sneak away with his wallet. Henry, whose apartment is equipped with video cameras, stops her and ties her to a chair fitted with handcuffs for that purpose. To put pressure on her, he calls the police and places drugs in Anja’s handbag. He tells her the story of One Thousand and One Nights, in which a woman puts off her execution by telling the king a story every night but saving the ending for the following night. Henry now expects Anja to tell him a story too. Anja tells him about a girl named Lilly, who suffered from deafness in one ear and was socially excluded because of it. Lilly came into contact with drugs and was eventually raped by several men at a party. Afterward, she found herself on the street with torn clothes and covered in blood. Anja refuses to continue until Henry calls off the police response. He does so, unties her, and reveals that he lied: the supposed drugs were only dextrose tablets. He takes one, and Anja does too. Anja becomes dizzy. During the sex that follows, Henry uses violence and “breath control” on her at Anja’s request. While they eat together, she continues Lilly’s story. Because of her financial situation, Lilly successfully conned men out of their money until one day it went wrong. Anja breaks off and goes to the bathroom to wash. Henry watches her through the camera. When she discovers it, he turns off the recording. A little later, he finds her in the bathtub. She has cut a vein in her wrist with a razor blade. After unsuccessful attempts to revive her, Henry decides to bury her outside the house in the rain. Halfway through, he stops. After a nap filled with nightmares, he discovers that Anja is still alive and carries her back into the house. When she wakes up shortly afterward, she remembers only that she wanted to take a bath. She tells him how Lilly’s story ended: Lilly was killed and mutilated by an unknown person. The ensuing investigation yielded nothing. Anja’s memory gradually returns—even though Henry’s clock is permanently stuck at three o’clock. She thinks she remembers Henry killing her with a hair dryer in the bathroom and then cutting her wrist to cover it up. When she confronts Henry with this, he throws her out. Outside the building, she spots the hole in the ground and goes back to him, but shortly afterward she faints. She finds herself tied to the chair again. Henry demands another story from her. After Henry gives up pretending that they are still at the beginning of the evening, she says that she is dead. He believes neither her words nor the death notice in her handbag. Henry apologizes and asks that from then on they both be honest with each other. He offers to drive her home. During the drive, the same conversation is shown taking place once in Henry’s room and once in the car. Anja, who is not wearing a seat belt, suddenly grabs the steering wheel. The car crashes into a bridge pillar. Anja is thrown through the windshield. Henry limps out of the car and sees Anja’s lifeless body. He collapses beside it.