Schlaflos (2009)

After twelve years in prison, actress Carla Sagmeister is released. She was once convicted of manslaughter for the death of her lover, Erik Vonhoff, on the basis of a flawed report by the renowned forensic expert Dr. Borchert. Back in freedom, she gets herself a gun, intending to force Dr. Borchert to reopen her case so she can prove her innocence. The scientist eventually begins to doubt his own investigations at the time. He decides to re-examine the blurry images from a surveillance camera, which show the murder victim’s last visitor. Meanwhile, Carla tries to get in touch with her family and friends, most of whom turned away from her during her imprisonment. Her daughter Yvonne in particular, who knew her mother only as a selfish woman, continues to treat Carla with extreme coldness. To her horror, Carla learns only now that Yvonne has a son named Fabian, fathered by Erik before his death. The only one who kept in touch with Carla all these years was Erik’s sister Sabine, who has multiple sclerosis and now lives in Erik’s villa. As Carla tries to find the real murderer, she is continually met with the persistent silence of her family and acquaintances. It is only when she moves into the villa’s guesthouse at Sabine’s request that Carla finally gets closer to the truth. Although it turns out that Yvonne is the woman in the surveillance footage, Sabine eventually confesses that she shot her brother. Sabine’s son Lukas wants to spare his sick mother a trial, so he asks Carla to give up on seeking a retrial. Dr. Borchert and even Yvonne want to make the new findings public. Carla, however, ultimately waives compensation.