Wo ist die Liebe hin (2020)

Agnes and Gregor Flemming have been happily married for over 15 years, and their friends Conny and Bernhard—who sometimes quarrel themselves—admire them for it. Agnes often disagrees with their teenage daughter, Helena, because she could do more to help around the house and should be more independent. Gregor is a freelance graphic designer, and Agnes works part-time for a supermarket chain. When Agnes contacts the food bank, known as “Tafel,” about donations from her employer, it awakens her interest in volunteering. She becomes involved with the organization and finds a new friend in Heike, leaving her much less time for her family. The new situation brings new challenges for the family, and things become even more difficult when Gregor’s work starts to dry up. He is more willing to give Helena leeway as a teenager, while Agnes wants everyone involved to take responsibility. She can no longer do all the shopping or wash clothes at a moment’s notice, as she used to. By now, Gregor has moved into the house’s basement, and he tells Agnes that somehow the love between them has gone missing. Another strain is the news that Bernhard has cancer and has little time left to live. The couple visit Bernhard and Conny at their home on the Darß peninsula. Bernhard urges Gregor to get his marriage back on track. Just as in Bernhard and Conny’s relationship, he says, Gregor should sometimes allow an argument to happen. If he is afraid of losing Agnes, he needs to finally make a move. A short time later, Bernhard dies. In a final letter, he again urges Gregor not to be so stubborn. Gregor could do nothing about the death of his first wife; now he must overcome his fear of change so that he does not lose another woman in Agnes. Gregor seeks out Agnes for a talk. They discuss the plans they had made but never carried out—to travel around the world and illustrate a children’s book. Agnes now wants to pursue these changes, while Gregor feels that he has stood still and she has set off. Leaving familiar paths behind is not easy for him. The next day, Gregor goes alone to the food bank, meets Heike, and sees where Agnes’s efforts are going. Later, he drives to the beach on the Darß, where he first met Agnes and where he had his last conversation with Bernhard. There he meets Agnes, who has just visited Conny. When Gregor asks whether there is still enough between them, Agnes answers, “I don’t know if we can make it.” They then walk along the beach together.