Räuberhände (2021)

Janik and Samuel are best friends and spend a lot of time together in a garden shed. The carefree Janik comes from a stable German family, while Samuel is growing up with his alcoholic mother, Irene, and has never even met his Turkish father. After passing their school-leaving exams, the friends travel together to Istanbul, where Samuel wants to look for his father. The trip is already overshadowed by the fact that, shortly beforehand, Janik was caught by Samuel having spontaneous sex with Irene. Their plans to find work in Istanbul prove difficult to carry out; they start taking drugs and fall in with dubious company. When Samuel falls seriously ill for several days, Janik looks after him, and a homoerotic aspect to their relationship is at least hinted at on Janik’s side. They hardly ever get in touch with their parents. With their last money, they buy a camper van. When it no longer starts and Janik accuses the person who arranged the sale of fraud, the friends get into a physical fight. When Samuel also announces that he does not want to return to Germany, they even beat each other up. As Janik prepares to leave early, they make up and then learn in a phone call from Janik’s parents that Irene has been killed in an accident. This strengthens Samuel’s resolve to stay, and Janik realizes that he has to let his friend go. They spend the last evening of their trip together, mourning. Back in Germany, Janik helps clear out Irene’s apartment and waters a fig tree Samuel had planted.