Mein Sohn, der Klugscheißer (2016)

Deborah Höffner works as a bus driver in Hamburg. While she is interested in dogs, cat videos, musicals, and fashion, her son Jerôme has completely different interests. He is afraid of dogs, calculates prices including discounts when shopping, takes care of his mother’s utility-bill statements, and observes his surroundings very analytically. At school, he has no friends, is bullied by his classmates, and is sometimes misunderstood by his teachers. When Deborah’s boyfriend Marco finds out about this, he advises Jerôme to stand up to the classmates who provoke him. The next time he is provoked, Jerôme breaks a classmate’s nose. This leads to him being referred to the school psychologist, Ms. Laas. Following a suggestion from Jerôme’s art teacher, the possibility that he is gifted is also considered. Faced with the possibilities of a “normal but behaviorally troubled child” or a “gifted child,” Deborah does everything she can to have her son classified as normal. She is afraid of losing him if, for example, he were to move to a boarding school to receive the support he is entitled to as a gifted child. She herself grew up in a children’s home and wants to prevent that from happening to her child at all costs. Jerôme overhears this conversation and manipulates his test results so that he cannot be diagnosed as gifted. The psychologist nevertheless has her doubts and offers them the chance to visit a boarding school for gifted children. They go and look at the school, but Deborah sees no opportunities there for Jerôme, unlike her son. They don’t even have fries, spaghetti Bolognese, or cola there. Jerôme tries to get along with his classmates. He also makes a new friend, Said, who helps him get onto the school’s softball team. Said helps Jerôme when the classmate whose nose he broke ambushes him again. This causes considerable alarm among the classmates’ parents, who consider Jerôme aggressive and would like him expelled from school. Their differing views about Jerôme lead to arguments between Deborah and Marco, and they break up. Without his mother’s knowledge, Jerôme goes with Said to the boarding school and takes the entrance test. He is certified as gifted, with an IQ of 137. He would like to move to the boarding school, but he also understands that this would mean leaving his mother on her own for periods of time. Despite his fear of dogs, Jerôme uses Said’s connections to arrange a dog for Deborah. He also tries to find a new boyfriend for his mother by reactivating her profile on a dating site and writing that she is interested in mathematics, astrophysics, and evolutionary biology. When Deborah discovers that Jerôme visited the boarding school and also reactivated her profile with false information, she and her son argue. Jerôme says that he hates his school and that all his classmates are stupid and mean. Deborah is stupid too. Angrily, she tells him he is not allowed to go to the boarding school and may not see Said anymore, then steps out onto the balcony briefly to calm down. When she comes back, Jerôme is nowhere to be seen. With Marco’s help, Deborah searches for Jerôme; they also go to the boarding school, but he is not there. They talk with the head of the school and Ms. Laas, and Deborah again expresses her fear for her son. They once more explain the benefits Jerôme would gain from receiving the right support there. When Jerôme is about to be reported missing to the police, he is found in the apartment. After a clarifying conversation, Deborah realizes that the boarding school is what Jerôme wants and what is best for him. In the final scene, Deborah, Marco, and Said visit the boarding school for the presentation of Jerôme’s first research project. He gives a talk on astrophysics—to their surprise, in fluent English.