- The small German town of Winden is shaken by the disappearance of a teenage boy. While the townsfolk are occupied with secrets of their own, at nightfall a group of teenagers attempts to recover something the missing boy may have left behind.
- The small german town of Winden is shook by the disappearance of a teenage boy. Some of the townsfolk look back to the events thirtythree years ago, when another teenage boy had disappeared. While most of them are occupied with secrets of their own, a group of teenagers heads into the woods near the towns caves at night, to recover something the missing boy may have left behind. What they find is not exactly what they were looking for. When they realize, that unknown danger awaits them in the dark of the woods as well as in the shadows of the caves, two of them get separated from the others in a headless flight to safety. In the Morning the Police makes a startling discovery - all between the looming nuclear power plant, that's about to be shut down, and the chilling, black shadows of the caves.—ahmetkozan
- SECRETS
Germany, present day. In a forested area, in an underground bunker, is a cache of weapons, grenades, gas masks, etc. Pinned to a wall are photographs of different people in groupings that show each in their youth, adulthood, and old age. A voice-over says that while we think time is linear, the distinction between past, present and future is nothing but an illusion; that yesterday, today and tomorrow are connected in a never-ending circle.
June 21, 2019
A man is at a workbench in the bunker, sealing an envelope. He places it on the workbench, steps under a noose and hangs himself. The envelope, which leans next to a photo of the man with who appears to be his wife, son, and an older woman, says, DO NOT OPEN BEFORE NOVEMBER 4, 10:13 PM.
A boy wakes up with a start and sits up in bed. He takes a prescription pill.
CREDITS
November 4, 2019
The boy comes downstairs to the living area. The lights don't turn on and the refrigerator light doesn't come on. He sniffs at the contents of a bottle, frowns, and calls upstairs to his mother, pointing out that the power is out again. His mom is in her bed, having sex with someone. She bemoans the fact that at 16, the boy should know how to make his own toast.
As they put on their clothes, the partner asks the mom if she will be attending tonight's meeting. She instead asks if Katharina will be there. The mom tells Ulrich (Oliver Masucci) that she loves him and kisses him. (He does not say it back; instead telling her she's beautiful.) On the dresser is the same photograph from earlier, with the older woman torn out of the picture. Ulrich sneaks out the second floor window and climbs down to ground level.
The boy bikes down a forest road. There are two nuclear power plant cooling towers in the near distance. On a light pole along the road is a "missing" poster for Erik Obendorf, a red-haired teen.
Ulrich jogs through a lightly forested area, passing a sign that says "WINDEN CAVES 0.6 MILES."
We see a dark cave under a rock formation.
The boy is walking with a man through a lightly forested area. The man asks how he's been these past two months. The man then says the boy doesn't have to talk about it, and that he's read the notes from his therapy sessions and group meetings and seems to be doing well. The boy says he still sees "him" (his dad). The man asks why the boy thinks he's still seeing him. The boy asks the man that as his therapist, shouldn't he be explaining this to the boy. The therapist asks if he's still taking his meds and the boy nods. The boy thinks the dad is just trying to tell him something, or maybe he wants the dad to tell him something. The therapist asks the boy what he thinks that might be. Angrily, the boy answers, "Why; why he left; why did he hang himself; and, why he didn't leave a word, no explanation."
Elsewhere, we see the same photo again, intact. The older woman is sitting with a wooden memory box. She opens it, and the envelope from earlier is inside. She listens to a radio report about the Winden Nuclear Power Plant, how it had been built in 1960's and is now scheduled for decommissioning in 2020.
Elsewhere, a mom rushes to get her son off to school. She notices a young boy, Mikkel (Daan Lennard Liebrenz), dressed in a skeleton costume and she tells him to go change. He replies that, as a magician, he has to dress the part. She then asks Mikkel's older sister (Lisa Vicari) to come eat something. The sister indignantly asks if the mom is sure her brother wasn't adopted. An older boy comes in, cuffs Mikkel on the head, and asks if the mom has seen his hoodie. Ulrich comes in, apologizing for his tardiness, because the line at the bakery was long. The mom takes a book from the sister's hand and gives her a croissant, but she says she's on a hunger strike - as long as a child is starving, she won't be eating. Mikkel grabs the croissant. The sister asks for her script back and the mom gives her another croissant instead, saying her starving won't help anyone. The older boy comes back in, cuffs Mikkel, and says he still can't find his hoodie. The mom notices Mikkel is still in his costume and says he will make them all late for school. Ulrich asks Mikkel to do one trick and then go change. The mom sighs in frustration.
The boy from before, Jonas (Louis Hofmann), is standing at the perimeter of the school grounds, watching as all the students are watching him. His friend comes up and cuffs him in the head. A group of kids pass by next to them and say, "What a freak." The friend tells Jonas that he told everyone that Jonas was on a two-month exchange in France, playing hide-the-baguette. Jonas is not amused and just keeps staring back at the other students. The friend sobers up and tells Jonas to relax and leads him inside. Jonas asks if anything happened while he was away, and the friend says, not much, except that thing with Erik.
Ulrich enters the police station as the parents of Erik Obendorf are demanding action and answers from the police chief. The chief assures them that the entire department is working on the case with interviews, searches, and combing the forest. She says that it would help if they calmed down. The mom spits in her face. Ulrich and other cops try to calm the situation. Ulrich says that this may not have been a crime, that Erik has run away before. The father agrees but Erik has always returned after two days; it has been 13. Ulrich promises they'll find Erik.
We see the silhouette of a man in a rain slicker as he stands at the mouth of the dark cave. There is an abandoned armchair a few feet from the cave.
Magnus (Moritz Jahn), the older son at Ulrich's house, is sneaking a smoke at school. He plays it cool when a girl walks by, but she comes back around. He asks if she should be hanging out with the geeks. Franziska (Gina Stiebitz) asks if the son of the principal should be sneaking a joint at school. She takes a drag, and says its shit weed.
Jonas and the friend are at a school assembly. Jonas smiles brightly when a girl, the Mikkel's sister, walks into the row they are seated at, but he frowns when she sits down next to his friend and kisses him. The friend admits that something DID happen when Jonas was a way. She asks Jonas how France was.
The mom at Ulrich's house is the school principal, Katharina (Jördis Triebel). She addresses the assembly about Erik Obendorf and says they can all feel comfortable about telling the school staff anything about the case.
Ulrich is with the police chief. Erik has left no trace, as if he didn't want to be found. There was still money under his bed, and his phone. All they have are scores of tire tracks on the forest road between the school and town. Ulrich still thinks it's a runaway case, not foul play. The police chief reminds him of what happened to his brother. Ulrich says this case has nothing to do with that and gets up. Before he can close the door, the chief says his mother called the emergency line again this morning, and that he's probably due for a visit. Ulrich asks the chief if she's ever wondered where her life took a wrong turn, and that her life turned out the opposite of what she wanted it to be, and closes the door behind him. The chief looks at a family photograph on her desk - herself, her husband (Stephan Kampwirth), the therapist from earlier, Franziska, and another girl.
At the Winden Forest Hotel. A manager behind the front desk, Regina Tideman (Deborah Kaufmann), has her head in her hands and seems annoyed when the phone rings. The caller speaks for a while before she makes pleading offers regarding a loan and payments on the loan. She becomes sarcastic, asking if he (the caller) would like to stay at a hotel in a town where a boy has just gone missing - that she has a family suite available - he can bring his kids. She starts swearing at the caller and he hangs up. She slams the phone back onto the cradle.
Franziska is giving a report on black holes. The friend wonders to Jonas if the darkest hole is in Franziska's ass. They laugh. The friend also wonders, seriously, that if Erik did not run away and instead met with foul play, if his stash of drugs is still at the cave. The friend says they can go get it.
Ulrich is at his mother's apartment. He asks where his dad is; she says he should come by more often. She says she saw a dark figure with a large head in the forest. She says there are things we can't understand. She reaches into a drawer and gives Ulrich a "Raider" candy bar wrapper that she found in the forest, saying that Mads loved those. She says Erik's disappearance matches Mads' disappearance 33 years ago. Ulrich looks on sadly.
At the Winden Rest Home. An old man with a bad cauliflower ear, keeps repeating, It's going to happen again.
Elsewhere, Erik, his hands covering his ears, is lying on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed in a room, sparsely decorated with books and toys and child-themed wallpaper, and the video for "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive blaring on a small TV, and an electric chair situated in the middle. The room has a steel door, and there us an untouched tray of food in front of it.
After class, Jonas asks his friend what they would do with the drugs? The friend suggests they smoke half of it themselves, and if there is a market for the rest, that the can sell it. Magnus and his sister join them and Jonas tells them they're going to the caves tonight. Bartosz (Paul Lux), the friend, kisses the sister, much to Jonas' consternation. The sister thinks there is a lot of weird stuff happening in the forest, including a rumored five-legged squirrel resulting from the proximity to the nuclear plant. Magnus exchanges hellos with Franziska as she passes by. The sister chides Magnus for having a crush on Franziska.
Jonas' mom is parked outside the nuclear plant when she gets a cell call from Ulrich. She says she's still not sure if she'll be going to the meeting, because everyone will be there gawking at her. Ulrich says he has a weekend of training in Frankfort and will be staying at a hotel and hopes she can join him.
Katharina is back home and finds Magnus' hoodie. She notices a long strand of hair on it. She sniffs the hoodie and is put off. We see a family photo of herself, Ulrich, Magnus, the sister, and Mikkel.
Jonas' mom wheels a large case through a passageway at the nuclear plant. Set up in an office, she gives a therapeutic massage to a man, noticing a large discoloration near his shoulders. She says that stress could cause his muscles to tighten up, and he agrees that the current situation has been getting to him. He says it will all end within the year, that he first came to Winden 33 years ago, and never thought that it would end like this. He expresses his sympathy about, her late husband, Michael, and asks how Jonas is. She says they (she and Jonas) are good.
Jonas' mom, Hannah (Maja Schöne), has left a message for the older woman, letting her know the power at the house went out again, and that if she wants to run them out of the house to just say so. Hannah is angry that Jonas hasn't been able to see the older woman, his grandmother, for three months. The grandmother takes out the envelope from her memory box and looks at the clock; it's a quarter past 6 PM.
Hannah goes to the school (it's a little before 8 PM). Katharina sees her in the hallway and gives Hannah a hug. She says she'll meet Hannah inside at the meeting.
Jonas bikes to the cave. Mikkel's sister is already there, walking a stone fence top like a tightrope, holding a flashlight. She tries to explain what happened with her and Bartosz over the summer, but Jonas says it's alright. As she talks, she says she just had a déjà vu - as if all of this already happened before. Jonas smiles and calls it a glitch in the matrix. She also smiles and calls it a message from the other side.
Magnus shows up, but he has Mikkel in tow because the sitter had a stomach bug. Mikkel is in his skeleton costume. The sister says Mikkel can't stay, but Mikkel insists he's not a child anymore; Magnus says SHE would have to take Mikkel home. Bartosz shows up and cuffs Mikkel in the head. Magnus says only he can cuff Mikkel, and cuffs Mikkel. They head off.
The old man from the Rest Home is walking down the middle of the street, still mumbling, It's going to happen again.
At the parents' meeting, the police chief, Charlotte (Karoline Eichhorn), is reporting the status of the police investigation. She urges the parents to listen to what their children are talking about and report anything that is relevant to Erik's disappearance. Katharina says they have new security measures at the school. Regina reminds her that they do not know what happened with Erik, so how could they have any new security measures. Hannah is in the back of the auditorium, anxiously waiting for Ulrich; he instead texts her to say that he'll be outside in 5 minutes (just after 10 PM). She leaves.
Mikkel asks the group what they think happened to Erik. The kids at his school say that Erik was kidnapped and locked in a basement somewhere. Magnus tells him to shut up. The sister says that despite what adults tell them, that most people are nice, that there are some real creeps in the world. Jonas says that his father used to say, good and evil is a matter of perspective. Bartosz and the sister look at him sadly. Jonas asks, Dead dad, bad subject? Mikkel asks if Erik was dead somewhere, even then, he would still want to be found.
Katharina urges the parents to stick together. Regina says it's more important not to blow the situation out of proportion, and have the press invading their town. Katharina says Regina thinks that way because of the possible effect on her hotel. Regina counters that she is more concerned about their whole town. Katharina says it's not even that, that it's about a missing child. Then Regina says that Katharina should worry about her own personal problems. Katharina, looking puzzled, says she doesn't know what Regina is talking about.
The old man from the Rest Home, Helge (Hermann Beyer), walks into the auditorium and says and says It's going to happen again; but that it's already too late. Charlotte intercepts him and says she'll take him back to the Home.
Jonas' grandmother is clutching Michael's envelope while staring at the clock; it's just after 10 PM.
The group walks past the nuclear plant. Jonas stops to stare at the towers.
Ulrich meets Hannah outside the school and they start making out.
Jonas' grandmother opens the envelope.
Bartosz goes up to the armchair and looks under the cushion. There is nothing there. Franziska walks out from the cave holding a large zip-lock bag. She offers to sell it to Bartosz, that what's in the bag is easily worth 500, but she'll sell it to him for 200 since his dad has a lot of money. He shoves her to the ground and takes the bag. A deep roaring sound comes from the cave. The sounds of ground cover rustling come from all around them. Their flashlights flicker. They run; Jonas has Mikkel in tow.
Jonas' grandmother leafs through the folded sheets of paper with handwriting on widely spaced lines.
The group keeps running through the forest. Jonas falls and loses sight of Mikkel and the group. A voice calls his name. He turns around and sees his father, Michael, with blood dripping down his head and face. Jonas runs.
Jonas' grandmother folds the sheets back up.
It's raining heavily. The group stops back in town and notices Mikkel is not with them. Jonas says he thought Mikkel was with the group. The group, angry, runs back to the forest.
Charlotte walks Helge outside. He says It's too late. Her cell phone rings.
Ulrich steps back from Hannah when his cell phone rings.
At the meeting, Regina's phone, and then Katharina's phone ring.
Jonas' grandmother returns the envelope to the box and embraces it sadly.
The group watches as police cars pull up. Ulrich jumps out and grabs Magnus. Charlotte hugs Franziska. Regina grabs Bartosz. Hannah hugs Jonas. Ulrich runs into the forest, yelling for Mikkel. The roar sounds again. Ulrich heads into the cave.
It's the morning. Jonas is lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Hannah is staring blankly from her kitchen table. Katharina is comforting her daughter on their sofa. Ulrich is staring blankly in his squad car on the forest road. Magnus is staring blankly from a bench at the police station; he notices Erik's missing poster.
The police are working the cave entrance with metal detectors. Charlotte asks the captain and he says they haven't found anything.
Charlotte gets a call from her husband, the therapist. He tells her Franziska is sleeping. He has to tell her something, but she is called away. He mumbles the Serenity Prayer to himself.
The police walk a grid. A call on the police radio confirms a child's body has been found at the edge of the forest. Ulrich runs to the site. Charlotte is there, and hugs Ulrich. Ulrich clears off the leaves covering the body and finds a boy wearing a jean jacket and jeans. It is not Mikkel. Next to the boy is a Walkman still playing a cassette tape.
Where Erik is being held, another music video is playing loudly. Erik, gagged, is being strapped into the electric chair. The man, cloaked in a rain slicker with a hood shielding his identity, places a necklace over Eric's head; it has a gold coin pendant. The man closes the chair's metal band around Erik's head.
END CREDITS
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