Stillleben (2012)

A family man pays prostitutes to pretend to be his daughter in role-playing scenarios. The shocking discovery of an obsession he has kept secret all his life shakes a fragile family structure. “I’d like to watch you take a shower. Don’t dry yourself off. Sit on my lap. Then I’ll dry you off. I want to caress your body. While I do, I want to call you Lydia.” When Bernhard finds these instructions written as a letter to a young prostitute, his family’s life changes fundamentally. Lydia is his sister’s name, and the author of the letter is his own father. Lydia comes home to help her father through treatment for his alcoholism. Bernhard joins them and, with a fixed expression, places the note he found on the table. His father then leaves without a word. The father is unable to talk about his pedophilic inclination, but leaves a previously hidden box of Lydia’s childhood photos out in the open in the workshop. Bernhard and Lydia discover the pictures and realize what they are for. Lydia then wants to leave. Bernhard tries to find out what happened in the past. At first, Lydia does not want to talk about it; she is torn between wanting to flee and her affection for her family. Their mother tries to maintain the appearance of normality in public, while their father looks for a way to come to terms with his feelings of shame and guilt. When the father retrieves a rifle from the basement to atone in his own way, the siblings learn to trust one another.