"Auf kurze Distanz" or "Point Blank" is a German television movie that premiered in March 2016, so as of today it is not even 10 months old. The director is Philipp Kadelbach and the script comes from Oliver Kienle and Holger Karsten Schmidt. Especially Kadelbach and Schmidt have worked on several fairly successful and well-received small screen projects in recent years, so the (awards) success of this 90-minute film we have here should not come as a surprise to anybody. The cast includes actors who should be known to German film buffs, namely Schilling, Hasanovic, Schüle, Hammelstein and Gersak to mention only a few. And these are the ones that really make the film work. The acting is pretty strong here, from everybody involved. Thanks to that, it is also easier to ignore occasional weaknesses with the script. With that I am mostly referring to the way the sports betting mafia in Berlin was depicted in here. I must say I never really managed to develop any interest in this particular aspect, even if the mafia guys gave strong performances. I am of course not an insider on the subject, but to me this plot never felt really realistic or authentic to be honest. But this is the somewhat only criticism I have with this film, even if it's a major one as it's one of the essential aspects of the film. This movie lives through the characters, the ways they were written and performed, and how they interact with each other. The film felt very real with regard to the people in it and I never had the impression that I was watching people perform. The relatively low number of main characters also helps in keeping the attention and being curious about what happens to them next. And eventually, the ending is another piece of evidence that the filmmakers (especially the writers) were not scared of anything in order to get the audience on the edge of their seat. It is a pretty nice crime thriller for sure and there are moments that feel like they have heart or are pretty sad, so the audience also gets emotionally involved. Like I said, the only downside is the entire mafia plot and even I as somebody from Berlin did not end up caring for it although it is set in my city. Other than that, very much worth seeing. Check it out if this is your genre (and you have subtitles).