Kalt (2022)

Kindergarten teacher Kathleen Selchow has worked at a daycare center for many years. She leads a harmonious life with her husband, Robert, and their nine-year-old son, Luca. But from one minute to the next, nothing in her family is the way it used to be. On a field trip, Kathleen takes charge of a group of children. The mood on this November day is carefree, and everyone is looking forward to the big bonfire that evening. But when Kathleen suddenly counts the children, she realizes that two are missing from the group. Neither of her colleagues, Nina and Miriam, has noticed that the children are gone, either. A frantic search with a tragic outcome begins. Kathleen eventually finds the two children in a stream: Nico has drowned, and Jenny is seriously injured. Overwhelmed by guilt and emotion, Kathleen begins a grueling search for who is responsible for the accident. She tries to understand who should take responsibility for what happened and wonders whether she played a part in the disaster. Kathleen also cannot explain why she failed to notice that the two children had disappeared in the natural surroundings so familiar to her. The parents at the daycare center increasingly turn against Kathleen and her colleagues, Nina and Miriam. Eventually, the daycare’s management places Kathleen on leave. The teachers turn on one another, and her son Luca is also having trouble at school. Nico, who died in the accident, was the son of her neighbor, Melanie Sieten, and a friend of Kathleen’s son, Luca. The lawyer Johanna Deich tries to help the desperate family, but the teacher is subjected to intense questioning by Inspector Leila Storm. Each day becomes more of a challenge, and Kathleen wonders how life for her and her family can go on in the wake of these events.