Mein gebrauchter Mann (2015)

Sophie is in her early forties and successful in her job as an editor at a major Hamburg publishing house. She is single and has no children, which means she often has to cover for her colleagues. Much of the conversation around her revolves around family planning and fulfilling people’s relationship wishes. One day, she meets Fritz Mertens, a successful dentist, and they fall in love. Fritz is divorced and has a son, Vincent, whom he initially keeps secret from Sophie out of fear. Vincent has to fly back and forth between his parents every week. When Sophie finds out about Vincent, they have their first crisis because Sophie feels she has been lied to. But Fritz manages to smooth things over. Vincent has his problems with his father’s new girlfriend. From Sophie’s niece, who is also a child who travels between two households like Vincent, he hears about the danger of having a girlfriend who has no children. If a child came along later, Vincent would no longer be the number one in the family. Sophie can’t seem to do anything right by Vincent—not with her cooking, nor with her “parental” support from the sidelines at one of Vincent’s team’s football matches. When Fritz cannot get back to Hamburg in time because of Vincent’s school performance, Sophie, a little tipsy, falls out with one of the publishing house’s most important authors at the summer party. Fritz wants to make up for his absence with a trip together, but unexpectedly, Fritz’s ex-wife Nina comes along for a day as well. Tension is, of course, inevitable. After Nina leaves, Sophie and Vincent grow a little closer during a stand-up paddleboarding trip. Afterwards, however, Sophie and Fritz argue because he assumed that Sophie didn’t want children and was using contraception. He worries that a potential child might once again have to experience the separation of its parents. The two then go their separate ways again. Sophie meets up with the author Berler, and they discuss her situation. Since Sophie is considering using a sperm donor from Denmark, he recommends that she decide by rolling a die. The result favors Denmark, so Sophie decides to go there. Just as she is about to leave, Fritz appears at the door and speaks openly with Sophie about his concerns. She gets into the taxi anyway, but after thinking it over for a little while, she has it turn back. They decide to stay together.