The real life story on which the writer/director, Katrin Gebbe, "based" her script on involves a mentally handicapped 29 yo man, Thies Fischer, who was exploited for money while being humiliated and finally tortured to death by a couple, Werner and Manuela H.
The real-life event is believable while this movie distorted script is not, by a long shot. Even a really naive young religious person would not behave this way. The choice made by the writer to substitute a mental handicap for a strong faith (perhaps , in doing so, revealing of her own perception of faith) is mind blogging since it totally disserves the whole narrative by considerably decreasing it credibility. Moreover, the financial exploitation that characterizes the primary motive of the real case murderer becomes an insignificant details and is replaced by purely sadistic tendencies. Advising the viewers that the story is "based" on a true event is therefore dishonest, at best. "Remotely inspired by", maybe, but not "based on".
Acting, production and camera work throughout the movie are outstanding, but, in my view, this can't make up for the fact that the script lacks credibility and that this false claim just stands out as a marketing ploy to exploit a very sad event.
The real-life event is believable while this movie distorted script is not, by a long shot. Even a really naive young religious person would not behave this way. The choice made by the writer to substitute a mental handicap for a strong faith (perhaps , in doing so, revealing of her own perception of faith) is mind blogging since it totally disserves the whole narrative by considerably decreasing it credibility. Moreover, the financial exploitation that characterizes the primary motive of the real case murderer becomes an insignificant details and is replaced by purely sadistic tendencies. Advising the viewers that the story is "based" on a true event is therefore dishonest, at best. "Remotely inspired by", maybe, but not "based on".
Acting, production and camera work throughout the movie are outstanding, but, in my view, this can't make up for the fact that the script lacks credibility and that this false claim just stands out as a marketing ploy to exploit a very sad event.