Die Verteidigerin - Der Fall Belling (2025)

Freiburg attorney Lou Caspari is assigned a court-appointed case and defends Linda Belling, an artist’s agent who is accused of pushing her husband off a balcony and does not deny it. Overwhelmed by guilt, Belling refuses a defense after attempting suicide out of remorse. Despite what she has done, she says nothing but good things about her husband to Caspari. This makes the attorney suspicious. While preparing for the trial, Caspari finds evidence that the Bellings’ marriage was not what her client had claimed, and that Linda Belling had been demeaned and abused by her husband. Although Belling expects to be found guilty of manslaughter, Caspari secures a one-year prison sentence, suspended, for her. Belling is thus released. She and her friends are overjoyed, while other trial observers—and especially the parents of the man who was killed—are horrified. Caspari’s law-firm partner is unsettled by her zeal. Although Lou Caspari is praised and is quite satisfied with her work, Belling’s clinging enthusiasm gives her pause. A former partner of Belling’s, who had refused to speak with Caspari before the trial began, tells her how, years earlier, Belling systematically destroyed his reputation, alienated him from his friends, and ultimately attempted to murder him. This sows doubts about Belling’s truthfulness. And because Caspari noticed the unease of Belling’s opponents, and the doubts now rising in her mind will not let her rest, she continues investigating even after the criminal proceedings have concluded—fully aware that this would not change the verdict. Little by little, she discovers a sinister and frightening side to her former client. Belling, for her part, grows increasingly intrusive, stalking her former attorney, interfering in her life through schemes, and eventually manipulating Caspari’s entire social, professional, and private world. It begins with an invitation from Belling to celebrate the successful outcome, which Caspari attends only reluctantly. Strange and unsettling things are already happening at the party, which she leaves early. Before long, she finds herself caught in a web of false accusations, manipulated so perfectly that it seems almost impossible to tear apart. Caspari realizes that the same thing is happening to her as happened to Belling’s former partner. She sets out to find a weak spot, which eventually points her toward a way out. With the help of a podcaster, Caspari manages to put a stop to her adversary. When Belling realizes she has been found out, she does not even shrink from attempting to murder the attorney. After recovering, Caspari apologizes to the parents of the murder victim, who are grateful that their son’s dignity and honor have been restored.