Einfach die Wahrheit (2013)

Prosecutor Charlotte Reinke is in a relationship in which, even after three years, she is afraid to take the next step. Professionally, she is investigating the case of eight-year-old Laura, who has accused her father of sexually abusing her. The girl’s video interview initially seems to suggest that the suspicion is true. At the trial, the defense questions the reliability of Laura’s statement because, after her interview, she asked her mother whether she had done everything right, and because Laura’s mother filed a report on the very day she learned about Solveig Zurner, her husband’s new partner. In a video interview before the court, Laura testifies that her father did nothing she did not want him to do. Prosecutor Reinke successfully requests an adjournment. Expert witness Thiel rules out the possibility that Laura is lying or has been influenced. In her assessment, everything depends on Laura’s testimony. In a conversation with Brandner, an inmate at the correctional facility who was convicted of abusing his son, Reinke tries to work out what makes Laura’s father tick. Suddenly, Laura disappears; her mother suspects she is with her father. When he brings her back, Laura says she ran away because she wanted to be with her father. After he successfully applies for parent-child reunification to prevent parental alienation, Laura’s mother plans to flee with Laura. Reinke asks her to let her talk to him first. He refuses to give up his visitation rights with Laura, but allows his wife to be present. Laura looks forward to an outing with both her parents. During the outing, Laura’s mother loses it when she thinks he is touching Laura inappropriately, and Laura runs off. In a conversation with her boyfriend Rainer, Reinke says that perhaps her daughter would not have had a fatal accident if she had picked her up in time. After Laura runs away, her parents try unsuccessfully to call Reinke. Meanwhile, Laura calls Reinke, who takes her into her home. By chance, Reinke finds an audio recording on Laura’s karaoke machine in which Laura’s father rubs skin cream on her, tells her she has to show him that she loves him, and Laura asks him to stop. In court, however, an audio recording is not enough because it is not as clear-cut as a video; additional irrefutable evidence would be needed, such as Laura’s testimony or her father’s confession. The chief prosecutor feels compelled to remove Reinke from the case because she may have committed the crime of abducting a child. She confronts Laura’s father with the recording and unsuccessfully tries to get him to confess. Since Brandner had kept mementos of the abuse of his son, Reinke asks Solveig Zurner for help and finds objects in her son Jonas’s room that Laura had supposedly lost and that her father had kept as mementos. When the judge finds both pieces of evidence insufficient, Laura has to testify in the courtroom. When a picture of Laura in the shower, found among the mementos, is shown in court, Laura says she wants to tell them everything. At that point, her father intervenes and confesses to the abuse, but presents it as true love.