This week at the movies: Das Glück der Tüchtigen (All That's Due)

In "Die Liebe der Kinder" ("Wallace Line", 2009), Franz Müller painted a sensitive portrait of a patchwork family just coming together. Sixteen years later, he has revisited the characters from that film – though "Das Glück der Tüchtigen" ("All That's Due") is only a sequel to the earlier film in a limited sense: Too much has changed; Maren (Marie-Lou Sellem) and Robert (Alex Brendemühl) have long since separated, and the focus is now entirely on Maren's daughter Mira (Katharina Derr), now in her early 30s: she has a harmonious relationship with her husband Tarik, two young daughters, and has recently taken over the management of a supermarket. So everything is perfect? Unfortunately not for long: a personal loan Robert gave her leads to unexpected complications, as Tarik invests the money in a crypto fund and loses everything overnight. Out of shame, Mira keeps the loss a secret, but one lie leads to another, and so she becomes increasingly entangled in her own web of deceit. Whilst Robert attaches certain expectations to his generosity and Maren questions all her daughter's decisions anyway, Mira's perfect world begins to crumble… Franz Müller tells the story in a manner that is as unpretentious as it is touching, with casual humour and full of empathy – and he manages the feat of embedding a shrewd parable on capitalism within this realistic tale of give and take.