Im Spiegel meiner Mutter (2026)

Archaeologist Ursula Scheuner is a professor at an institute for archaeology and ethnology. Because the building is being renovated, teaching and research can take place only on a very limited basis. The situation is taking a heavy toll on the nerves of the faculty. Ursula is secretly working on a bog body she discovered, hoping to raise the institute’s standing. Suddenly, a confident young woman is sitting at her desk, introducing herself as the new assistant, Melanie—Mel for short. Ursula lets her in on her work because she needs help cleaning the body. There are still many mysteries surrounding the female mummy, such as the missing arm and why the head was severed from the body. Two days before Mel appears, Ursula’s mother died in a care home. After Mel spends her first night at the institute, Ursula, who has moved back into her mother’s house to clear it out, gives her a room there. Gradually, Mel—whose existence as a real person or merely a figment of the imagination remains uncertain—becomes an emotional and practical support to the overwhelmed Ursula. Mel supposedly can read Ursula’s thoughts, a claim Ursula also makes about Mel. Ursula repeatedly experiences flashbacks to situations in which she felt helpless in dealing with her mother. She also feels that her mother is still present and wants to settle accounts with her. The bathroom mirror thus takes on symbolic significance as a link between the present and the past. The relationship between the two women was complicated; the mother had always been controlling and demanding. As a result, it was not easy for the daughter to meet her mother’s expectations for loving care as her dementia progressed. By contrast, Ursula has positive memories of her father. Ursula and Mel try to make further discoveries together in the bog. There, they find the baby belonging to the body they have been working on, as well as the missing arm. Back at the institute, they put the pieces together and photograph the bodies for a research article. Afterward, Mel disappears, and Ursula cannot find her again. She asks at the administrative office, where she is told that Mel is not due to start until the following week.