In aller Stille (2010)

Anja Amberger is a criminal investigator in a Bavarian town and the mother of two children. She is separated from her husband, and their divorce is imminent. The double burden of working while raising her children alone, along with frequent night shifts, takes a heavy toll on her. She often responds irritably and somewhat coldly, especially to her five-year-old son, Tom. Her relationship with her teenage daughter, Laura, is also strained: the possibility of living with her father on her grandparents’ farm instead of with her mother gives Laura an opportunity to put pressure on her. Amberger fears that her soon-to-be ex-husband and her in-laws might estrange the children from her and turn them against her. One evening, criminal investigator Amberger and her colleague Anton Kirmayer are called to the home of the Anik family, whom Amberger recognizes from her son’s kindergarten. A neighbor, Frau Gallus, had seen the family’s three-year-old boy, Max, being made to stand in the front yard for two hours in chilly weather, and had alerted the police. Max’s parents, however, insist that it was only a matter of a few minutes: the boy had refused to go to bed, and they wanted him to “cool off” a little. Just as Anja Amberger is about to check that the sleeping boy is all right, his father comes into the child’s room. Startled by his sudden appearance, she fails to check whether the child’s body bears signs of abuse, but initially keeps this to herself. The next day, she merely informs the youth welfare office that there are problems in the Anik family. A few days later, little Max disappears. A major search gets underway, but comes to nothing, even with help from colleagues in Rosenheim. As the investigation proceeds, it emerges that Christian Anik has been unemployed for some time and occasionally does undeclared work, while his wife, who works as a sales assistant in a bakery, largely supports the family on her own. Increasingly, however, she tries to escape the pressure through alcohol. The family is in debt, things at home are often tense, and the mother is overwhelmed by everyday life. Stephanie Anik states that she was visiting a friend on the evening in question and did not get home until around midnight. Only later does she admit to Amberger that she was drunk and, contrary to her initial account, did not check on her sleeping child again but simply fell asleep. The father insists that he had nothing to do with his son’s disappearance. A neighbor, however, says that someone left the house again during the night. The child remains missing. Amberger blames herself and confides in her colleague Kirmayer. But it is not only the unresolved case that weighs on Anja Amberger: the police officer is herself traumatized and struggles with fears rooted in her own childhood. This becomes clear when, during a search of the Aniks’ home, the door to the basement boiler room shuts behind her. Amberger also has a very strained relationship with her mother, Mechthild. When her daughter confronts her, Mechthild defends her late husband’s strict child-rearing methods and would rather leave the past alone. Increasingly at the end of her strength, after a fierce argument Amberger forces her mother to hand over a suitcase containing old diaries and keepsakes from her childhood. Through a long night, she tries to get to the root of her fears. During another search, the missing boy’s body is finally found hidden in a shed where Christian Anik had worked a few days earlier. The autopsy shows that Max Anik died from severe physical violence and had repeatedly been physically abused in the past. His father remains silent. Even when Roland März, the head of the police investigation, confronts him with evidence, Anik refuses to acknowledge that he had abused the child before. Eventually, he says it was an accident and that he had not wanted anything to happen to the boy. Stephanie Anik then breaks down. Christian Anik sticks to this version during subsequent questioning as well. According to his lawyer, his client had only tried to cover up the consequences of the tragic accident. One final visit takes Anja Amberger back to the basement of her childhood home. She realizes that she has to change something in her life and dares to make a fresh start.