Wir sind die Flut (2016)

Fifteen years ago, the sea disappeared off the coast of Windholm. Since then, an oppressive stillness has hung over the area, raising questions and causing unease. The cause of the anomaly remains unknown to this day. On the day the sea retreated, the village’s children also disappeared. But it is unclear whether the children really drowned at the time; in any case, their bodies were never found. With a new theory, ambitious physics student Micha applies to an internal committee for one of the university’s scarce research grants. After years of work, however, he has to watch his bold project founder against the entrenched system—he is not allowed to continue it. Frustrated, Micha steals a case of measuring equipment and, defying the instructions of his doctoral supervisor, Professor Feuerstein, sets off for Windholm to test his hypothesis on his own. He is accompanied by his ex-girlfriend Jana, his supervisor’s daughter, who intends to drop out of her physics degree. Using forged permits, the two enter the area cordoned off by the military. There, the young researchers try to substantiate Micha’s hypothesis with gravimetric measurements, but encounter resistance from the villagers who remain. After their equipment is sabotaged on this side of the fence, Micha and Jana put on protective suits and venture into the mysterious tidal flats. But they are unable to detect any deviation in gravity. In their investigations, Micha and Jana receive help from Hanna, the daughter of Sophie, the woman who rents them a room. Eventually, it turns out that the mysterious force causing the water to retreat originates from a spot on land. Matti’s grave is there. He was a schoolboy who died after a long illness shortly before the sea disappeared. Micha discovers a mysterious connection between himself and the dead boy, who eventually even appears to him in the tidal flats. Under Matti’s growing influence, and that of the mysterious force, Micha finally enters the tidal flats without a protective suit and seems to disappear there, just as the children did before him. In the wake of these events, the villagers seem liberated and tear down the protective fence on the beach. Some time later, Jana encounters Micha, who has returned, in Berlin.