Haltet die Welt an (2010)

Katja Winzer is a down-to-earth woman and mother. She works as a physiotherapist and lives with her eight-year-old son Tobias and her partner, Jürgen Behrendt, who is unemployed and psychologically unstable, on a former farm near Bremerhaven. When Tobias does not come home one evening after going out to play, and calls to all his friends’ families yield no results, Katja contacts the police. Chief Inspector Roman Maartens, who is in the middle of moving his family into their newly built home, has to cut short his vacation. He is the only member of his team with the psychological training needed to support the family in a case like this. As Katja’s life, consisting of waiting, fear and hope, slowly but surely turns into a waking nightmare, Roman stands firmly by her side, unlike Jürgen, who is drinking more and more often. After one of the largest search operations in the Federal Republic, the terrible suspicion that Tobias may have fallen victim to a violent crime becomes a gruesome certainty. The boy’s body is found. A man who was arrested shortly before for murdering a ten-year-old girl confesses—under pressure from Roman Maartens—that he was also responsible for Tobias Winzer’s death. Katja sees no point in living anymore. Roman has his work cut out for him trying to stop her from taking what she sees as her only way out: suicide. He succeeds, but it remains unclear whether Katja will ever be able to lead a life worth living again.