Jack the Ripper - Eine Frau jagt einen Mörder (2016)

London, 1888: The young German woman Anna Kosminski travels to London to start a new life there with her mother and brother, Jakob. When she arrives, she learns that her mother has died and Jakob is in an asylum, accused of being the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper, who has murdered numerous women in Whitechapel. But Anna is certain that her brother is no murderer. She begins investigating on her own, and the trail leads her to the studio of police photographer Samuel Harris, where her brother lived and worked. Samuel Harris acts helpful. Anna is able to stay in a room in the house and work as his assistant. She remains wary of the unsettling old man. The investigating Inspector Frederick Abberline and Jakob’s friend David Cohen also offer to help. Anna is not sure whom she can really trust. Before long, Anna herself is in grave danger and becomes a target of the serial killer—and no matter what she does, Jack the Ripper always seems to be one step ahead of her. Anna travels to Leeds and tracks down the mother of a filmmaker who was a friend of her brother, hoping to get information, but after a brief conversation the woman orders her out of the house. At the last moment, Anna stops the housemaid, who also believes Jakob is innocent. The maid goes with Anna into the basement, where the filmmaker’s films are kept, and Anna finds a letter from Jakob. Suddenly the mother appears and claims that Anna is in great danger and should be careful not to continue investigating. Anna returns to London, deep in thought, and meets David Cohen to watch old film footage. It proves that her brother was in Leeds at the time of the murders. Back in her room at Mr. Harris’s, Anna accidentally discovers a second room behind one of her room’s walls. There is a hole in the floor through which one can look into the room where Jakob allegedly brutally murdered the prostitute. Mr. Harris asks whether she has found anything out; she says no. She goes to her room and, through the hole in the wall, finds Mr. Harris there. She accuses him of being the Ripper and threatens him with a gun. She demands that he admit Jacob is innocent. He wrests the gun from her and insists that he is innocent. He says he can prove he is not the Ripper: on the night in question, when the murder took place, he was with a young man. Mr. Harris suspects someone in the police force. Anna also learns that Jakob knew Mary. Anna goes to the psychiatric institution where her brother is being held and confronts him about why he never told her that he knew Mary. He does not give her a clear answer, but says that Mary had a daughter, Tascha Kelly, who was always with a woman while her mother went out to earn money through prostitution. Mr. Harris goes with Anna to question her, and they are threatened and beaten by a gang of criminals. But Mr. Harris has a gun and is able to defend himself. A female gang member tells them that Mary’s daughter lives in an orphanage. Anna and Mr. Harris go there to find Tascha. She seems very disturbed, and the head of the institution ends the questioning when the child wets herself in fear. Before that, Anna learns that a policeman had been to see the girl. Anna returns to London and confronts Police Chief Briggs, who denies her accusations. In his conversation with Anna, he says that the Ripper has made the ghetto residents in the poor district of Whitechapel cooperate with the police. In that sense, Jack the Ripper is a blessing to society. Anna suggests bringing Mary’s daughter to police headquarters to arrange an identification. He agrees. Anna returns to the orphanage with Cohen and Abberline to speak to Tascha again, but finds the girl in a tower with her throat cut. Abberline advises Anna to leave the city so she will not be linked to Tascha’s murder. He tells Anna to go back to Mr. Harris and not talk to anyone. Anna follows his instructions and leaves. Anna tells Mr. Harris about the murder, and he asks her who knew about Tascha. Anna rushes back to the institution to see her brother, fearing that Jack the Ripper might harm him, but she is too late. Shortly beforehand, he was murdered by an anonymous policeman. She searches his room and finds a film, along with a camera. It shows Mary’s murder and Jack the Ripper himself: Police Chief Briggs. Meanwhile, Abberline searches for Anna and finds Mr. Harris dead. The police chief shoots Abberline. Mr. Cohen surprises Anna, and she realizes that he was the one who filmed the murder. She threatens to expose Mr. Cohen, and they struggle, but Anna manages to kill him. Briggs is behind Anna and injures her before admitting that he is the Ripper. He is about to shoot Anna, but at the last second the wounded Abberline arrives and shoots Briggs. He advises Anna once again to leave the city. British society would never admit that Police Chief Briggs was the Ripper. Anna leaves London that very night, while Abberline survives and becomes the new police chief.