Endlich Witwer - Forever Young (2021)

Widower Georg Weiser sets off in his camper van, planning to drive alone to Morocco. It is something he has always wanted to do, but never got around to. First, though, he drives to an old farm to visit friends he has not seen in almost 40 years and hopes to make amends with. But the two surprised friends, Petra and Jürgen, have no interest in seeing him again and tell Georg to get out of there as soon as possible. As he is leaving, however, the clutch breaks, so Georg is allowed to stay on the farm in his camper van until at least the next day. There he meets Angie, an automotive executive who regularly takes silent retreats in this secluded place. Petra and Jürgen’s resentment toward Georg stems from the fact that, back then, he abandoned them during an attempted kidnapping of the polluting industrialist Kornhalter. Georg did so because Jürgen had started something with Petra, betraying the trio’s principles. The next morning, Georg’s children arrive to help him with the vehicle. They realize that Georg must have been deeply in love with Petra. While his son Gerd quickly takes an interest in Angie, his daughter Susanne, an environmental activist, is more interested in the pollution on the property. In conversations with Gerd, Georg says that a lot went wrong with Petra back then, and that he distracted himself with Brigitte, the woman who later became his wife. When Gerd tells his father that he has a date with Angie, Georg tries to talk him out of it, saying she will disappoint him. Georg manages to get back into conversation with Petra and Jürgen and learn more. Petra, the farm’s owner, is short of money and has to sell the property; Jürgen has already worked something out with Ludwig Kornhalter. The three talk about the past, and they are seized once more by the urge to make up for what they missed. But their attempt to deface the factory grounds ends in failure. Since Kornhalter is worried that environmental activists are making inquiries nearby, Petra does not sign the purchase contract and asks Georg to find out from Susanne what the groundwater test results showed. They are all alarming, indicating elevated levels precisely on Petra’s farm. Petra and Georg discover toxic barrels buried there. It becomes clear that Jürgen, who rushes over, was bribed by Kornhalter to illegally dispose of the toxic waste on the property. Petra wants Jürgen to leave. Georg has a plan. He drives Kornhalter to what is supposedly a press event, but intends for him to make a statement about the elevated laboratory readings in front of a TV crew and Petra. Kornhalter turns the tables, however, accusing Petra and Jürgen of accepting money to dump the toxic waste on their farm, and saying Jürgen will testify to that. Jürgen arrives, but to Kornhalter’s surprise, says that Petra knew nothing about any of it and that he alone dumped the toxic waste there on Kornhalter’s instructions. More important to Jürgen than money, though, is taking responsibility for something. He will accept the consequences. In the final scene, Petra is seen getting into Georg’s camper van.