Enkel für Anfänger (2020)

Sisters-in-law Karin and Philippa are retirees who spend their retirement in their own garden in Essen instead of traveling to foreign countries. They have no interest in senior citizens’ classes or Nordic walking. Bored, they are looking for a new challenge. While Philippa enjoys her life as Leonie’s honorary grandmother, Karin also wants to apply to an agency for volunteer grandparents, but Karin’s husband Harald is not at all enthusiastic about the idea. He would rather be left in peace and has no real patience for annoying children. By chance, Karin runs into Gerhard, a friend from her youth who has been alone since his life partner died. Karin would like to pretend he is her husband so she can be accepted into the volunteer-grandparent database, but Gerhard is unwilling to go along with it, too. The agency, however, assumes he is Karin’s partner and readily matches her with lively Jannik as a foster grandchild. During the adjustment period, Karin wants to get in touch with Jannik’s father and discovers that he has started a new family and brought an older daughter, Merle, into it. Karin is somewhat overwhelmed by the family dynamics of the blended family, but does not want to admit it to herself, let alone to Harald. Her constant absences eventually make him curious about the boy, and he throws a children’s party with Karin in their garden. Philippa is there with little Leonie, and even Gerhard is there. By then, he has also inadvertently become a foster grandfather after meeting Viktor, a boy who is often alone and could really use some grown-up care. Everyone happily celebrates together in Karin’s garden; they have a barbecue, and the children enjoy themselves on the bouncy castle. Jannik’s father, Kai, has come too, and Karin cannot help feeling a certain attraction to him. Ultimately, though, she resists Kai’s attempts to flirt with her when Harald unexpectedly decides that he finally wants to go on a trip with his wife. But Karin decides to fly to New Zealand on her own. It is a new challenge, because honorary grandmothers are needed there, too. Gerhard has found a little sense of family with Viktor, and the two are good for each other. Looking after grandchildren has also brought something to Philippa: she has decided to visit her daughter, with whom she has had no contact for a long time.