Ein Wahnsinnstag (2022)

A Friday morning in Cologne. The single parents Frederike and Philipp take their children to school as usual. But when an unexploded bomb is discovered and parts of Cologne-Nippes have to be evacuated quickly, the school closes and the parents’ plans for the day fall apart. Frederike has an important cooking trial that afternoon, where she is being considered for a job as a cook in the school cafeteria. But she can’t go back to her apartment to prepare because it is in the cordoned-off area. Philipp is booked as a tour guide that morning, an opportunity for the museum employee to establish another source of income. Since their children, Fritz and Miriam, have nowhere else to go, the two adults decide to take turns looking after them. Frederike takes the children first while Philipp sets off to lead a tour for a group of senior citizens from Würzburg. Frederike has plenty to deal with, between her preparations and the children: Miriam climbs a church unsupervised, and Fritz gets a cut that needs stitches. Meanwhile, Philipp is repeatedly challenged by a grumpy participant on his tour. He handles that skillfully, too, and manages to slip away for a while with a ruse so he can attend an apartment viewing. Unfortunately, the apartment is available only to someone without children, but across the street there is another one that a couple expecting a baby has applied for. Philipp plans to show up there later with his heavily pregnant sister Isa to improve his chances. Afternoon arrives, and just as the two are about to hand the children over, Isa has to cancel because her waters have broken. Philipp quickly persuades Frederike to pretend to be his pregnant wife. The two make a good impression, but the landlady—a former gynecologist—sees through the act. However, Frederike manages to persuade her in conversation to keep Philipp in the running. Now she also has to continue preparing her food. Since her own kitchen is unavailable, she has to use the kitchen of her good friend Susi, who had actually forbidden this because of her boyfriend. Things go wrong here, too: the children destroy a model of a molecule, but they manage to put it back together with Philipp’s help. The two adults grow increasingly fond of each other. The cooking trial at a corner pub, in front of the school association’s board, is a complete success; Frederike gets the job. But one of the mothers on the board, who notices the strong mutual attraction between Frederike and Philipp, tells Frederike that Philipp is still very attached to his ex-wife. This unsettles Frederike, and she leaves with her son, even though Philipp would like to celebrate with her and the children. Her friend Susi advises Frederike to talk to Philipp about it. The two do in fact meet at the hospital, where Philipp receives confirmation that he has been approved for the apartment. That evening, Frederike goes to Philipp’s new apartment and asks if the offer to celebrate is still open. The four of them spend a lovely evening, which ends with Frederike and Philipp kissing.