Tessa Hennig: Mutti steigt aus (2013)

The three childhood friends Maria, Elke, and Sigrun don’t want to waste away in a retirement home. Instead, they plan a trip to Gran Canaria together, which they intend to fund with their pensions. Maria is the wealthiest of the three, so Elke and Sigrun are banking on being able to put down permanent roots on the island with her help. First, though, they just want to enjoy their vacation. Above all, having a “men-free zone!” is close to their hearts: Maria’s husband is dead, and she doesn’t want to commit herself to a new love. Elke has been rejected by men several times, and in Sigrun’s opinion, men are the inferior creation of women. But once they arrive in Gran Canaria, they find anything but a worry-free, men-free paradise. The broker who rented them their loft is involved in shady dealings, and Maria’s irritating son flies out after his mother. While Elke and Sigrun hope to use Maria and her money to treat themselves to a villa in the mountains with a pool and sea views, Maria’s son is also hoping for a cash injection from his mother, which is why he pressured her to sell her property in Berlin. But now his mother wants to use the proceeds solely to buy her new villa on the island. Robert hopes he can talk her out of leaving. A pleasant man, however, is their future neighbor Miguel. He poses no “danger” to the three women, since until recently he had been living with a man. After being cheated on by his boyfriend, he is a kindred spirit to Maria, Elke, and Sigrun, and all three enjoy talking and spending time with him. He even arranges interim financing for the villa purchase through his brother-in-law, Pablo. Pablo is quite charming and promptly invites the three friends onto his yacht. But his interest is only in Maria, who firmly rebuffs his advances. That changes when Maria turns to him for help after discovering that the broker has cheated her and sold the villa to someone else as well. Thanks to his connections, Pablo manages to stop the transfer just in time, so Maria doesn’t lose her money. He also does what he can to ensure that Maria may still be able to buy the villa. While the two enjoy a romantic evening on the beach and spend the night on Pablo’s yacht, Elke and Sigrun have fun with Miguel at a bar. Sigrun gets along so well with him that Miguel offers her a place to stay. Maria is still unsure whether she should stay in Gran Canaria and with Pablo, especially since Robert has just told her he is going to become a father. But her daughter-in-law makes it clear that she can manage all of this on her own, and that she should simply think of herself for once. Pablo then surprises Maria with a deed: he has bought the villa for her. This means the three friends can live together, just as they had dreamed of.