Matti und Sami und die drei größten Fehler des Universums (2018)

On the shore of a Finnish lake, a family from Germany sits without money or a home. Ten-year-old Matti explains as the narrator that he is blamed for this, but he sees things differently. The story then goes back to what happened. Matti lives in Germany with his five-year-old brother Sami, their German mother Annette, and their Finnish father Sulo. Annette lovingly looks after her children, but is overwhelmed by her job at a doctor’s office. Sulo works as a bus driver, dreams in vain of a career as a software developer, and shuts himself off from his family. This leads to frequent arguments between the parents. The boys get answers to questions about the adult world from Uncle Kurt, a taxi driver who also gives them many private rides. Matti’s view of the world begins to crumble when adults repeatedly lie to him—the “mistakes of the universe” referred to in the title. First, a newspaper story about a dolphin in the town’s duck pond, which had delighted the animal-loving boys, turns out to be an April Fool’s joke. Then it emerges that their parents do not, as they had said, regularly donate to help animals in need. The third lie hits Matti especially hard: when Sulo’s brother Jussi boasts during a visit that he is taking over Markku Virtanen’s timber business in Kokkola (Sulo once accidentally set fire to one of Markku’s warehouses), Sulo counters that he has found a job as a developer and that they will soon be moving to Switzerland. By the time Matti learns that this is not true either, he has already excitedly told his entire class. To make up for at least the second lie, he gives the small change his parents had saved for eating out to an animal-welfare organization, and feels completely justified when they confront him about it—he had only kept their promise for them. Matti’s best friend Turo, who is also half Finnish, thinks a stay in Finland is the best way to make Matti’s family happy, and finds a job listing for a caretaker position that Sulo could take to pay for the trip. Turo’s older brother Jari applies for the job in Sulo’s name and gets accepted. But the job is in Kokkola, so Sulo will not take it, because he does not want to face Jussi’s ridicule. Matti therefore persuades Uncle Kurt to enter a raffle for him as well, with a house in Finland as the grand prize. But Matti does not want to wait for the draw, so he forges a winning notice for his parents and includes the contact details for the caretaker job. Too late, he begins to worry that he has gone too far; he can no longer stop the letter. When his overjoyed parents call and are told that they are already expected in Finland (without knowing they are expected as caretakers, not as owners), and Uncle Kurt confirms that he entered the raffle, they do not prepare for a holiday, as Matti had expected, but for a permanent move to Finland. Matti knows it cannot end well, but cannot find the right moment to tell them the truth, especially since doing so would also destroy the family happiness they have just found. In Finland, the parents are given the key and innocently take possession of the house. Sulo gets angry that the (supposed) previous owner has not cleared it out. The owner soon appears; it is none other than Markku Virtanen, who immediately throws them out. Matti explains the situation, but the family is now completely without money or a home. Annette persuades Sulo to swallow his pride and ask Jussi for help; after an honest conversation with his father, Matti agrees to go along. It turns out that Jussi’s claim to have taken over Markku’s timber yard was not true either: he is still just a lumberjack. The brothers make peace, and the two families spend a few happy days together, while Matti wonders whether the universe can solve their problem. Then a package arrives from Germany: Matti’s raffle ticket has actually won, and they own a house in Finland.