Was am Ende zählt (2007)

Carla, whose mother has died, runs away from her alcoholic father. She is headed for Lyon, where she wants to study at a private fashion-design school. But at the station in her hometown of Berlin, all her money and her suitcase are stolen as she boards a train. She does not want to ask the police for help, because she does not want to go back to her father; she had stolen the money from him. Completely penniless, she meets Rico, who offers to let her stay with him. In return, he expects sex, and Carla agrees on the first night. He offers her a job at his construction site, where a boat is to be converted into a bar. Lucie lives there too, along with her brother Michael. Despite the great differences between the two young women, they become friends. When Carla is ready to continue her journey, she discovers that she is pregnant and that it is too late to have an abortion. The child was conceived on her first night with Rico, but Carla decides not to tell him he is the father. Since Lucie does not want Carla to leave her alone, she offers to let Carla give birth and then pass the child off as her own. Carla agrees. Carla and Lucie move into an apartment, where Michael also makes himself at home. He puts pressure on the two women because he knows their secret about the switched motherhood. His parasitic way of life repeatedly causes conflict among the residents. When an argument escalates, the toddler falls to the floor because of a moment’s carelessness and suffers a concussion. Carla, who is increasingly settling into her role as a mother, can no longer tolerate the situation and exposes the deception. She gets support from the youth welfare office and decides to stay with her little daughter. Lucie, meanwhile, steals money from Rico for the two of them, but is caught in the act and decides to leave the country. Instead of Carla, she now travels to Lyon.