Die Anruferin (2007)

Irm Krischka, who works in a laundromat, cares for her bedridden mother, who is dying of alcoholism. Since she gets little conversation from her mother, Irm tries to compensate for her loneliness by calling complete strangers in a disguised child’s voice and asking them to tell her a story, always claiming that she is either alone or sick. This behavior shields her from the harsh reality, dominated on the one hand by her mother and on the other by memories of her dead sister. One day, she meets one of the people she has called, Sina Lehmann, and her life spirals completely out of control. She becomes friends with Sina against her will. This threatens her strange cat-and-mouse game with other people, but also gives her a glimpse of a new life. However, when Sina hints that she has a chance of getting a job at a library in Dortmund, Irm’s fear of loss resurfaces, and she retreats to her phase of making phone calls. But she also decides to be present as her mother dies. After her mother has died, Irm places a photo of her dead sister on the bier as a gesture of reconciliation. With this gesture, she can finally leave her old, desolate life behind and start over.