Weihnachten für Einsteiger (2014)

The con artist Katharina and her partner Rocko prey on wealthy men. In their latest scheme, Katharina also manages to steal a suitcase full of money and an icon from a rich Russian, but on her way to their next job, two of his henchmen spot her at the train station. To throw them off, she jumps onto a regional train that is just pulling out and spontaneously pretends to be the girlfriend of a young passenger. The two of them get off the train together in the Eifel town of Monschau. Since there are no more trains back that day and she lost her money while fleeing, she accepts an invitation from her new acquaintance Matthias to stay the night. Matthias recently inherited a struggling family business that makes down bedding from his parents, together with his younger brother Kalle, but he is clearly overwhelmed by running it, as he cannot manage to secure any orders. At first, Katharina plans to empty the company safe, but it is bare, because the business is almost bankrupt. To change that, Katharina uses her powers of persuasion on Wiebke Goldeband, the manager of a local hotel, and gets the brothers a lucrative order from her, to be paid in cash. However, it has to be completed in next to no time, demanding everyone’s full effort and a lot of teamwork—and this just days before Christmas. Katharina now passes herself off as a “Production Consultant” and gives Matthias capable, astute advice on business matters, while at first pushing aside the fact that she is also falling in love with him. While the slick Wiebke Goldeband seduces young Kalle purely for fun, Katharina’s worldly manner wins her not only a place in Matthias’s heart but also the affection of other people in town. At the Secret Santa gift exchange, for instance, she gives the stolen icon to police officer Janine and offers her tips on how to get together with Kalle, to distract her from the fact that Katharina is wanted. Katharina, who lost her parents at an early age, seems to have found a new home. But when the impatient Rocko and her Russian pursuers both turn up in Monschau, Katharina has to make a choice: she continues to tell Rocko that she intends to steal the payment for the hotel order, but the brothers, their business, and its employees have already grown very dear to her, and stealing the money would drive them into ruin. When Rocko notices how Katharina behaves with Matthias, he also becomes jealous and puts her cover at risk several times. Katharina’s intentions remain hidden from the audience until the very end. On Christmas Eve, she goes alone to see the hotel manager to resolve a baseless complaint and, without the brothers’ knowledge, has the order payment handed over to her—money she could now disappear with. But in one final meeting, she makes it clear to Rocko that there is a big difference between taking from the rich, who have more than enough, and taking from people who depend on the money. She breaks up with him and gives him a valuable watch from an earlier theft as compensation. After handing the money over to the brothers, she intends to leave Monschau with a heavy heart because of all the complications—and because Janine has already become suspicious—but Matthias follows her and persuades her to stay with him.