Gruber geht (2015)

The film focuses on John Gruber (Manuel Rubey), a Vienna-based advertising executive in his mid-thirties who leads a fast-paced, luxurious and self-centered life. His existence is marked by material wealth, expensive sports cars, drug use—especially cocaine—and superficial sexual relationships, with women he habitually refers to as “chicks.” Gruber has a cynical, self-absorbed outlook on life, which leads him to largely neglect his family ties with his mother and sister. The story begins when Gruber flies to Zurich for a sales meeting. During the flight, he meets Sarah (Bernadette Heerwagen), a Berlin-based DJ who performs under the stage name “Sahara” and, to his surprise, does not fit his usual type. The two spend a night together. In a later scene, Sarah reads aloud an unopened letter that Gruber has been carrying around for some time. It is from a hospital and contains an invitation to an appointment in the oncology ward. The cancer diagnosis is then officially confirmed, marking an existential turning point for Gruber, particularly when he is told his chances of survival are “between 30 and 70 percent.” Reluctantly, he begins the recommended treatment. In parallel with Gruber’s struggle to come to terms with his illness, a second storyline unfolds in Berlin. Sarah discovers that she is pregnant by Gruber. At first she considers having an abortion, but changes her mind on the way to the clinic when she sees a children’s playground, and decides to have the baby. As Gruber grows weaker and loses his hair during chemotherapy, Sarah looks forward to the birth. Their diverging paths lead to a meeting in Vienna, but the two do not have the emotional reunion Sarah had hoped for. The story reaches another turning point when Gruber actually recovers. This positive development is, however, contrasted with a tragic event: Sarah suffers a miscarriage, putting the relationship between the two protagonists to its ultimate test. The film presents this situation as a comic odyssey of self-discovery, exploring the transformation of a cynical egocentric who, through confronting his own mortality and the unexpected prospect of fatherhood, discovers his human side.