Die vermisste Frau (2016)

Karen writes a farewell letter to her husband. She wants to take her own life so that Georg can use the life insurance money to solve his financial problems. He has gambling debts and is being pressured by debt collectors. But Karen cannot bring herself to do it, and in the pouring rain she gets into a stranger’s car. He takes her to a motel. The stranger is a contract killer named Bruno, whom Georg hired to get rid of Karen for the life insurance money. Georg is convinced that Bruno is responsible for the farewell letter and his wife’s disappearance, and is already looking forward to the insurance payout of one million euros—all he still needs is the body. Bruno feels sympathy for Karen, so he has not harmed her. Meanwhile, Karen misses Georg and goes to their house. There, she first sees Georg in bed with Mona, a young prostitute. Karen confronts him about it, and he describes it as a brief affair. But Georg eventually tries to persuade Karen to go into the water, and she finally realizes what his plan was. The two struggle until Bruno arrives and tells his employer, Georg, to leave. As Bruno explains what happened, Karen understands the background to everything, and she develops a desire for revenge, which she wants to carry out with Bruno. Karen meets Georg one more time and tells him she is going to kill herself out of love for him. Later, she amputates one of her own fingers. When it is found in the body of water in front of her house, this supports the belief that Karen is dead, apparently having ended up in a ship’s propeller after her suicide. Georg collects the insurance money and spontaneously wants to go for a drive with Mona. However, Bruno has paid Mona to drive Georg into the woods. Bruno is already waiting for Georg and takes him and the briefcase of money to Karen, who eventually shoots him. Through a deal Bruno struck with Arenz, the life insurance representative, Karen now receives another million because of Georg’s death, half of which the representative keeps for himself. Arenz then celebrates his windfall at home with Mona. Mona lets Bruno into the house; he shoots Arenz and is himself shot by Mona shortly afterward. As Mona leaves the house, her pimps pick her up in a convertible. The viewer sees Mona draw a gun in the back seat, and in the next scene she is alone at the wheel of the convertible. Karen has meanwhile returned to her usual work as an orthopedic technician.