Gefangen (2021)

Everything is actually going well for Harry. He enjoys working as a police officer and is popular with his colleagues. His wife, Ellen, is expecting a child, and his daughter Vicky, from his first marriage, would like to move in with him. As Harry and a colleague leave a wedding to go on duty, they witness a serious traffic accident. Harry immediately steps in to help, but despite his efforts, the four members of the family can only be recovered dead. Harry had met Ronny, the family’s father, at a traffic stop the day before and given him a few pointers. Harry appears not to let the experience unsettle him, and he is reluctant even to attend an appointment with a psychologist. As a former member of a special police unit, he supposedly believes he can cope with traumatic events like these. But he grows increasingly taciturn, sleeps poorly, and so rides his motorcycle around at night. He is drawn to the house of the family who died in the accident, which is secluded in the woods and borders a wolf enclosure. Harry goes swimming in a nearby lake, where some teenagers hide his clothes. He then spends the night in the house and puts on a sweater belonging to the former owner before setting off again. Ellen wants to confront him about where he spent the whole night and where the sweater came from, but her pregnancy nausea interrupts her, so she and Harry never get to discuss the matter. Harry grows increasingly strange to those around him and goes to the house more and more often, something Ellen notices when she secretly follows him. In the house, Harry has dreamlike fantasies about the family members, as if he were living with them. This gives him the idea of buying the house for his family, since it is surrounded by nature and has enough room for Ellen, Vicky, and the baby on the way. Ellen and Vicky cannot warm to the idea when they view it for the first time. When it starts to rain, Harry closes all the shutters and locks the door. When Ellen and Vicky ask him to let them leave, he says he can’t and that the house is perfect for them. Harry has also let a wolf into the house, and Ellen eventually drives it away with a shot. The three of them then leave the house to drive back.