Whatever Happens Next (2018)

One day, 43-year-old Paul Zeise disappears on his way to work. He gets off his bicycle and leaves everything behind: his wife, his job, his middle-class life. From then on, he wanders amiably through the world without any particular destination, unafraid to make contact with people. For example, he gets into a cemetery gardener’s car uninvited while the man is out shopping, and goes with him to a cemetery. There, he gatecrashes a stranger’s funeral gathering and befriends a woman with dementia. A bereaved family gives him a ride, believing he is an invited mourner, but throws him out of the car when they realize he is lying. After happening upon a student’s farewell party, he travels to Poland with the host, lives on the streets as a homeless person, and has his shoes stolen. After encountering a passerby who suffers a stroke and falls into a coma, he rides in the ambulance to the hospital and stays with the comatose patient for several days, until he dies. At the hospital, he meets a Polish boy who also seems to live there. Eventually, he meets the impulsive Nele, falls in love with her, and spends a lot of time with her in an apartment that has been entrusted to her temporarily. Shortly before the apartment’s owners return, Nele sends Paul away. Paul has no idea that private detective Ulrich Klinger is following him on his aimless journey from Leipzig via Łódź to Kiel. Hired by Paul’s wife, Luise Zeise, the detective follows the homeless man and meets people who have taken him in. Luise and the detective arrange to meet in Kiel because he suspects that Paul is currently there. But they do not find him, and Luise leaves again. Shortly afterward, the detective spots Paul alone on a playground swing, sits beside him, and wonders aloud what he should do now. Paul does not understand and asks whether he knows the detective. The detective laughs, says no, and leaves.