Die Vermissten (2012)

Lothar (André Hennecke), a nuclear power plant engineer from Hanover, learns from his ex-wife Sylvia (Jenny Schily) that their 14-year-old daughter Martha has disappeared. For years, he has had no contact with either Martha or his ex-wife. His relationship with his current partner comes under strain when she discovers that he has kept his daughter a secret from her. Lothar sets out to look for Martha and discovers that she belonged to a group of children and teenagers called the “Rats of the Skies,” whose trail leads into rural areas. During his first searches in the city, he had already met 12-year-old Lou (Luzie Ahrens), who is also a member of the group and had initially only wandered around from time to time. Her parents, and the parents of a boy who had disappeared for good, meet his persistent inquiries with indifference and rejection. He now finds signs that many more children and teenagers have run away from home, that the police are no longer in control of the situation, and that some runaway children have been taken to reception centers but have repeatedly escaped. When three wandering children get into his car one night in a field, he realizes that one of them is Martha. The next morning, the children are gone. They have stolen everything they could use for their life as drifters, but left his ID behind. Lothar now wanders across the countryside without his car, which is stuck in the mud, suffering from hunger, cold, wetness, and dirt. He has already resorted to stealing food, but a helpful bus driver gets him back to a town, where he withdraws money from a bank. Back in the countryside, he meets Lou again and accompanies her. At a rural inn, he meets a mother who is also searching for her child, but does not reveal who he is to her. A vigilante group of older men patrols a seemingly deserted rural residential area where many wandering children are staying; the children immediately hide from the vigilantes. When the vigilantes try to check Lothar and Lou, they resist, whereupon the group seriously injures Lou. No one helps her, and she dies of her injuries. The children come out again and move on. Lothar sees his daughter among them once more and remains distraught. The film ends abruptly.