The Lunies family has not really been a family for a long time. Lissy Lunies, in her mid-70s, is quietly happy when Gerd, her husband who is slowly wasting away from dementia, is put in a care home. But her new-found freedom is short-lived: diabetes, cancer, kidney failure and the onset of blindness signal that she does not have much time left herself. Meanwhile, her son Tom, who is a conductor, is working on a composition entitled “Dying” with his depressive best friend Bernard. Tom’s ex-girlfriend Liv wants him to be the surrogate father of her child. His sister Ellen begins an affair with a married dentist with whom she shares a passion for alcohol and intoxication. But everything in life has its price. Confronted with death, the estranged family members finally meet again.
by Matthias Glasner
with Lars Eidinger, Corinna Harfouch, Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld, Robert Gwisdek, Anna Bederke, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Saskia Rosendahl
Germany 2024 German 180’ Colour World premiere

With

  • Lars Eidinger (Tom Lunies)
  • Corinna Harfouch (Lissy Lunies)
  • Lilith Stangenberg (Ellen Lunies)
  • Ronald Zehrfeld (Sebastian Vogel)
  • Robert Gwisdek (Bernard)
  • Anna Bederke (Liv)
  • Hans-Uwe Bauer (Gerd Lunies)
  • Saskia Rosendahl (Ronja)

Crew

Director Matthias Glasner
Screenplay Matthias Glasner
Cinematography Jakub Bejnarowicz
Editing Heike Gnida
Music Lorenz Dangel
Sound Design Christoph Walter, Nils Vogel-Bartling
Sound Christoph Schilling
Production Design Tamo Kunz
Costumes Sabine Keller
Make-Up Tatjana Krauskopf
Casting Liza Stutzky
Producers Jan Krüger, Ulf Israel, Matthias Glasner

Produced by

Port au Prince Film & Kultur Produktion

http://www.port-prince.de http://www.port-prince.de

Schwarzweiss Filmproduktion

http://www.sw-film.com http://www.sw-film.com

Senator Film Produktion

https://senator.de https://senator.de

Matthias Glasner

Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1965. In the 1990s, he made the cinema trilogy Die Mediocren, Sexy Sadie and Fandango, all three of which premiered in Panorama. His feature films The Free Will and Mercy were invited to participate in the Berlinale Competition. Alongside television films, he also directed the TV series Blochin, which was presented in the 2015 Berlinale Special Series section, and, most recently, the second season of the international series Das Boot for Sky.

Filmography (selection)

1995 Die Mediocren 1996 Sexy Sadie 2000 Fandango 2006 Der freie Wille (The Free Will) 2009 This Is Love 2011 Gnade (Mercy) 2015 Blochin: Die Lebenden und die Toten (Blochin – The Living and the Dead); series 2024 Sterben (Dying)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024