A witness, a conspiracy, and one very stressed German bodyguard—what could go wrong? (Everything.)
Jan Schäfer is a personal security officer at the BKA. Fiona Weibel, the key witness currently under Schäfer’s protection, has to testify before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. Particularly delicate: Fiona works in the management of a Swiss shipping company and is said to be using insider knowledge to heavily incriminate her own employer. The shipping company is accused of illegally transporting toxic substances, disguised as fertilizers, to Syria, where they are used to produce toxic gas. To keep Fiona safe until the trial, Schäfer and his colleague Yannick take her into their custody. But as soon as they pick up the witness at the airport, they realize they are being followed. Through a clever diversionary maneuver, they manage to escape the pursuers. But is that enough to get Fiona to safety? The trio threatens to be discovered and the operation exposed. Is the witness playing a double game? Or is there even a leak in the ranks of their own colleagues?
Direction
Tight 88-minute runtime—no fat, all tension.
Practical Effects
Handheld Hamburg chase sequences feel grounded.
Director
Philipp Osthus
Tobias Oertel
Jan Schäfer
Marlene Tanczik
Fiona Weibel
Slavko Popadic
Marco Lansing
Sabrina Amali
Rasha
Henning Hartmann
Martin Jörgensen
Anne Müller
Claire Beerenberg
Stephan Schad
BKA Chef Ihlenburg
Errol Trotman-Harewood
Richter Amadou Cissé
Aziz Dyab
Hamsa
Pascal Houdus
Morten
Sascha Weingarten
Matze
Oliver Sauer
Robert Foster
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The ITLOS (International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea) is a real Hamburg-based UN court—rarely featured in fiction, making this oddly educational.
Tobias Oertel's Schäfer is clearly modeled on the 'overworked but principled bureaucrat' archetype common in post-reunification German crime cinema.
DE
