Nette Nachbarn küsst man nicht (2006)

Franz Forstmann is transferred from the idyllic Bavarian countryside to anonymous Berlin after his promotion to senior public prosecutor. His wife, Helga, reluctantly decides to give up their detached house in Munich and follow him. Once they arrive in the capital, Franz reveals that the real estate agent he hired has not yet found a suitable home for them, so they will have to stay temporarily in an apartment in the rear building of a rundown tenement. From her very first look at their new surroundings, Helga feels anything but comfortable: she sees the multicultural crowd of eccentric neighbors as a powder keg of drug dealers, alcoholics, punks, and potential thugs. Neglected by her very busy husband, Helga feels increasingly out of place and lonely in her new home. The only one who manages to win a little of her attention is Cem, the neighbor of Turkish descent from the front building, with his charm and the clear view into his bedroom. One night, however, Helga thinks she sees him carrying the corpse of his lover, wrapped in plastic, down to the courtyard cellar. When she decides to get to the bottom of things and asks her neighbor, Mr. Blaubach, for the cellar keys under a false pretext, it is Cem of all people who offers to accompany her. While Helga senses danger, Cem tries to seduce her. At first, after his advances, Helga thinks she was mistaken about Cem, but shortly afterward she and her cleaning lady, Fanny Damaschke, see him carrying another corpse into the cellar. When Helga desperately tells Franz about what happened, he refuses to believe her and once again accuses her of being paranoid. In the days that follow, Helga is constantly afraid that she will be Cem’s next victim. When she and Fanny watch from the balcony as he carries an injured neighbor girl into the cellar after she falls off her bicycle, they fear for the child’s life. Helga tries to stop him, but Cem, who will not be deterred, lures her into the cellar himself. Fanny also manages to get into the cellar and knocks Cem down with a boot. As the two women examine the corpses and realize that they are merely lifelike dolls, they discover Mrs. Blaubach’s body in the adjoining cellar compartment. When Mr. Blaubach unexpectedly appears, Helga incapacitates him with a crowbar. Some time later, Helga spends the night with Cem.