Rockabilly Requiem (2016)

In September 1982, the teenagers Hubertus and Sebastian rebel against their fathers by turning to the 1950s, embracing rockabilly, pomade, and Confederate flags on their car hood as symbols of freedom and rebellion. Debbie, a punk girl who normally lives in Ireland but is spending the summer with her father, is also part of their group. Hubertus is the singer in the newly formed band The Rebels. The band’s first performance goes completely wrong, however, because Hubertus gets the date mixed up and the boys arrive at the venue a day late. When the respected rockabilly band Black Jets looks for an opening act for its tour of Germany, Sebastian takes on the role of sound engineer to mix a demo tape for their application. His hobby of recording bird calls means he has the necessary equipment. On one of his outings, he also discovers an old factory hall, which the band later uses as a rehearsal space. Hubertus’ strict father has no understanding of his son’s musical ambitions and wants him to pursue a military career. When Hubertus gets a tattoo and his father prevents the band from giving a trial performance, the already tense situation escalates further, and father and son get into a fight. Sebastian also has problems with his drug- and alcohol-addicted father. The man has left the family and pays no child support, but turns up at the family home again and again at irregular intervals. He encourages Sebastian’s mother to drink, keeps little Laura, Sebastian’s sister, from going to school, and beats her. Finally, Hubertus, Sebastian, and Laura decide to leave their families and run away. They set off in Hubertus’ father’s stolen car. After a phone call with Debbie at a gas station, Hubertus has second thoughts and drives back to her. But Hubertus’ father shows up there and takes his son home, claiming that his mother wanted to kill herself. At home, Hubertus completely loses his temper when he realizes his father has lied to him, and threatens him with a rifle. His father catches Hubertus off guard and locks him in the attic. Hubertus starts a fire, escapes onto the roof, and jumps to his death in front of his parents. At his friend’s funeral, Sebastian loses his temper and shoves Hubertus’ father into the open grave. He throws his own father, who is sleeping off a drunken binge, out of the apartment. Sebastian takes over as the band’s singer, and they perform in Hubertus’ place at the audition for the Black Jets, a date that had meant so much to him.