Makellos - Eine kurze Welle des Glücks (2026)

The married couple Constanze and Anton Laux jointly run a traditional clothing shop in Munich. Their marriage is passionless, and Constanze feels neglected. Her friend Karin Biederstädt therefore suggests that she hire a male escort. At their planned meeting, Constanze flees the hotel room in embarrassment and accidentally runs into Ricardo, who also works in the escort business. She begins an affair with him and calls him her cicisbeo. He recognizes her perfume as *une petite vague de bonheur*, which roughly translates as “a brief (little) wave of happiness.” Constanze suggests selling dirndls to go, directly from a stand at the Theresienwiese, but Anton sees the shop as a traditional business and is opposed to disposable dirndls and other new ideas. Ricardo looks after his mother Gerda in his private life; his father, Richard, is a book author. Constanze suggests that she and Ricardo spend a few days together in Lisbon. She tells her husband it is a business trip. To her surprise, Anton insists on going with her. Ricardo therefore stays behind in Munich and is booked by Karin. Constanze and Ricardo’s meetings have been secretly filmed. Anton receives a video anonymously, along with a blackmail letter demanding €500,000. He suspects Ricardo is behind it. Anton, for his part, is having a secret affair with Karin. Constanze wants to involve the police, but Anton wants to avoid a public scandal and suggests giving in to the blackmailer’s demand. Constanze discovers that Ricardo’s real name is Richard and that he is the son of the book author Richard Westerhoff. He gives her the address of Westerhoff Estate, where Ricardo lives with his mother. Ricardo denies having anything to do with the blackmail. Karin urges Anton to seize the opportunity and have his wife transfer her shares in the company to him. This is what happens; in return, he intends to pay the demanded sum. Constanze is distraught and attempts suicide in the hotel room she had always booked for her meetings with Ricardo. Ricardo, who by now suspects Karin of being behind the blackmail—she had initially booked the hotel room for Constanze so her name would not appear, and so knew about the secret meetings—finds her there and saves her life. He leads her to Karin’s trail, and they plan to look for the incriminating videos on her computer. To do so, Constanze arranges to stay at her friend’s house for one night under a pretext. She tells Karin that she has no intention of divorcing Anton, while Karin hopes she will finally be able to marry him. Constanze does indeed find the compromising videos on Karin’s computer and deletes them. The next day, Anton receives another blackmail letter, this time with a video showing Karin having sex with Ricardo. At the planned handover of the now-demanded €100,000, Anton and Karin meet Constanze and Ricardo. Anton claims that his five-year affair with Karin was nothing serious, even though he had promised her for the past three years that he would get a divorce. But Constanze does not want to return to him. She gives Ricardo the €100,000 as start-up capital for a fresh start. In the end, all four go their separate ways.