Zwischen den Jahren (2017)

Becker, a taciturn, somewhat burly man and a convicted double murderer, works as a security guard for a security company and leads a modest life. Recently, he was released from prison early while serving a life sentence. His ex-wife has cut off contact with him, and he has not seen his now-grown daughter since then. Becker used to be a member of a militant biker gang, but he no longer has any contact with them. His old life is just as far behind him as the terrible act he committed back then. Now all he wants is to be left in peace and get on with his new life. At the company where he works, he has even met a woman, Rita, a cleaner, whom he is tentatively getting closer to. She does not ask him questions about his past, but she also wants nothing to do with it. But then, just as the Advent season is beginning (“Between the Years”), Becker happens to run into Dahlmann, the man whose life he destroyed eighteen years ago. Becker had broken into the wealthy Dahlmanns’ villa during a robbery. When Dahlmann’s wife, Dana, caught him by surprise, Becker shot and killed her and their young daughter Lili, who would have had her birthday shortly before Christmas. Becker was caught, bitterly regretted what he had done, and served his sentence. But that did nothing to help the bereaved man, whose life had been completely destroyed by Becker’s crime. Naturally, Becker now feels threatened by his former victim as Dahlmann forces his way into his life with increasing aggression. He understands Dahlmann’s hatred of him. But after all this time, doesn’t he deserve a chance to start over, too? Becker seeks a conversation with Dahlmann. But he realizes that his victim is clinging desperately to him, his only link to his former life. Dahlmann knows all about Becker: his old family, his pretty daughter Maya, his job, and Rita and her young son Timo. Becker asks Dahlmann for forgiveness and asks what he can do to make him leave him alone. For a moment, the two sit facing each other in a stalemate, and Dahlmann suddenly seems unsure what he actually wants from Becker. But then Becker makes an ill-considered remark, and Dahlmann’s anger flares up again with full force; Becker can no longer reach him. Overwhelmed, Becker makes the drastic decision to contact the biker gang again, against all the conditions of his parole and behind Rita’s back. He wants them to rob the warehouse he guards during his shift. Not for himself—to use the money to flee, perhaps, and build a new life with Rita and Timo—but as a sign of remorse to Dahlmann, who is financially ruined. The heist succeeds, and Becker gets a large share of the loot, but his kind colleague Barat is shot during the robbery. He suspects Becker had something to do with it. Becker gets the loot to Dahlmann, but Dahlmann takes the gesture as another humiliation. When Rita is attacked and nearly raped, Becker realizes that Dahlmann is ultimately seeking revenge and that he must stop him to protect the people he loves. The violence he had wanted to banish from his life for good is now catching up with him. Finally, Becker and Dahlmann have a bloody confrontation near an inn on New Year’s Eve. With a bit of luck, Becker manages to kill Dahlmann. Becker, himself seriously injured, rides away on his old biker-era chopper.