Schattenmoor (2019)

The film unfolds on two timelines. Alongside the main story about Emma Müller, several flashbacks reveal the fate of Ann-Sophie Rellinger. The flashbacks are shown in italics below. Emma Müller arrives at Schattenmoor boarding school as a new student and is greeted by the student council president, Leon. As she walks through the building with him, the other students stare at her strangely. That is because she looks very much like Ann-Sophie Rellinger, who disappeared three weeks ago, just like her fellow student Ole Siebert. After Emma sees a photo of the missing girl, she meets the arrogant Chris, who, according to Leon, was cheated on by Ann-Sophie. In her room, Emma meets her roommate, the artist Kiki. Kiki is friends with Leon, computer nerd Woddy, and Ole; the latter presents himself as a magician called At Loki. That night, Emma is woken by a dripping faucet. Through the window she sees a figure dressed in a black hoodie in front of the adjacent woods, and on the bathroom mirror she sees a red number five. But after she wakes all the girls on the floor and the headmistress, Strehlow, all the signs have disappeared. The story spreads the next day, and the bullying of Emma intensifies. While Chris stammers through a presentation on Guernica in art class with the school counselor, Raphael Vidal, Emma sees the dark figure again and runs in panic into the woods, where she discovers an old circus caravan. A little later, Vidal’s car has burned out, and Emma is considered a suspect because Vidal had given her a spray can shortly beforehand. On the bottom of the can, Emma sees a red number four. Vidal, however, says there was a short circuit in the car, thereby defending Emma. In private, he tells her that they are both adopted and that he knows what it feels like to be an outsider. When Emma wakes up the next morning, several snakes have suddenly appeared in her room, along with a red number three. The numbers are clearly forming a countdown. Outside, Emma and Kiki encounter the police officer Tomek, who is also puzzled by the new girl. Emma tells Leon and Kiki that she suspects Chris may be behind the mysterious events, perhaps with help from his buddy Fiete. As the incumbent student council president, Ann-Sophie faced competition in the election from Leon, who was backed by the school newspaper, where Kiki was an editor; after losing, she talked to Chris about revenge. Emma searches Ann-Sophie’s room and finds a pistol and a figure drawing signed by Vidal, before being caught by a teacher. During a cross-country run, Chris and Leon confront each other, after which Emma sees the dark figure again. Since Ann-Sophie had been sexually involved with Vidal, Emma now also suspects the teacher in connection with the disappearance, and she speculates about Ole as well while talking with Leon. Leon, however, does not respond to her attempts to flirt with him. The next day, Emma is in the shower with Kiki when what appears to be blood suddenly runs from her swimsuit. Photos of the scene spread online, and one of them is marked with a red number two. Emma then wants to leave the boarding school, but Kiki and Leon stop her. Ann-Sophie secretly photographed Kiki while she was having sex with Tomek in his car. Kiki points out to Emma that Leon and Ann-Sophie used to be THE couple at school. That evening, the Shadowclash party takes place. Emma styles herself like Ann-Sophie and provokes both Leon and Vidal. Ann-Sophie had tormented Kiki by setting fire to one of her artworks and posting the sex video. Kiki wanted revenge for this. Emma sees the dark figure outside again, runs into the woods, and enters the caravan, where she sees several disturbing photos. Then Ole comes in. He shows Emma a video: As a magician, he had wanted to perform a Houdini-style escape trick in the moor, capitalizing on Ann-Sophie’s popularity. But the straitjacket was too tight. Ann-Sophie left Ole there motionless, but he woke up and planned an act of revenge. The cruel schoolgirl was supposed to die. Later that same night, during the party, Kiki shows Emma a photo revealing that Vidal has kidnapped Leon. Woddy insists that Emma take the pistol. Ann-Sophie had also tormented Woddy by deleting data from his computer, and Ole by killing his rabbit. She had also pressured Leon after the student council election. In the woods, Vidal forces Emma to burn the figure drawing and stabs Leon anyway. In the reflection of a puddle, Emma sees a red number one on Vidal’s chest; the countdown is complete. Trembling, she points the pistol at the teacher, and Kiki urges her to shoot. But then Emma puts the gun to her own head and pulls the trigger. Ole hypnotized Ann-Sophie in the caravan and convinced her that she had a new identity as Emma. She was an adopted orphan with no living relatives, had already attended several schools, and now had certain friends at the boarding school. Since the pistol was only a blank-firing gun, “Emma” survives in the woods and now hears the others discussing whether the hypnosis plan succeeded as a joint act of revenge. She learns that the sensitive identity of Emma was created because the cold-hearted Ann-Sophie was incapable of feeling pain. Then “Emma” is the only one who sees the dark figure coming toward her, causing her to become the evil Ann-Sophie again. Ann-Sophie loads the pistol with a live round. She locks the others inside the caravan. Just before setting fire to the vehicle, which has been doused with gasoline, “Emma” speaks up and tries to reason with her. As the trapped group fears for their lives, Ann-Sophie and “Emma” fight, before the good personality sinks the evil one into the moor. Saying, “The bitch is dead,” the now-good Ann-Sophie frees the others. Ole’s father had been in a psychiatric hospital, and at the caravan there had been an argument between Ann-Sophie and her disappointed boyfriend, Leon. After returning from the woods, Ann-Sophie and Leon talk about a future together without hate or bullying.