Matze, Kebab und Sauerkraut (2020)

The longtime Berlin friends Noah and Hakim fall in love with the same woman. Charlotte is a photographer from Bavaria: blonde, blue-eyed, German, and Catholic. Noah is Jewish and Hakim is Muslim. This sets the stage for tension between the two friends, their religions, and their families, who had previously been friends. Noah and Hakim are constantly locked in a romantic duel in which anything goes. As a result, they no longer spare their friendship any consideration, even though they once swore that no woman would ever come between them. Charlotte is torn between the two men and at first does not even realize that one is trying to outmaneuver the other. Moreover, after her latest disappointment, she does not want to start a new relationship. Still, the two men do not give up. To his parents’ dismay, Hakim invites Charlotte—a Christian—to visit him and his family. But Noah was a little quicker, so that evening Charlotte is sitting at the Hirschmans’ table. Hakim does not take this lying down, and so he turns up at Noah’s place with his entire family, ensuring that the evening does not end as Noah had imagined. The next day, the two face off in front of Charlotte, but she tells them again that she does not want a new boyfriend. The two then briefly join forces again to convince Charlotte that one of them is the right man for her. They visit Charlotte on her houseboat on Lake Wannsee and show her their most charming sides. But the visit also includes skinny-dipping in the lake, and in the end Hakim sees Charlotte and Noah kissing. He then withdraws, saying, “Friendship comes before everything. Good luck to you both,” and heads back to the city alone. On the way, he stops at a small pub, where a young, pretty Arab woman is just about to close up. However, she has just converted to Buddhism. Hakim does not mind. A few weeks later, Noah and Hakim celebrate a double wedding, thus peacefully bringing four religions together.