"Töte mich" or "Kill Me" is a co-production between Germany, France and Switzerland from 2012, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. The film is almost exclusively in the German language and it is one of the most known works by writer and director Emily Atef. You could certainly say that this is a two-man show, so it is fine that there are really no known names in the supporting cast as even the protagonists' brother and parents only have one scene really. And still do a decent job I guess. What surprises me though is that lead actor Roeland Wiesnekker is only 4th billed in the cast list and he definitely should be second right behind Maria-Victoria Dragus. But he has not appeared in a film like Haneke's "Das weiße Band" ("The White Ribbon), so maybe that's the reason. This is the story of a suicidal teenager and a man who fled from prison. He is forced into a deal by her that he has to kill her in exchange for her helping him to get away from the police because she is not able to make the last step. A wild journey begins that has police occasionally right behind them and they eventually end up in France even.
I think the very first scene between them is really interesting because we hear him say that he will kill her if she says anything not knowing that's right what she wants and yet she remains silent. A very telling moment that includes her approach to life in general and how even if she may try to convince us and him otherwise several times, she is far from ready to kill herself. This is not Bonnie & Clyde. There is no romance between the protagonists, more of a father-daughter relationship if anything. You could maybe call it a road movie looking at everything they go through together, not just the distance. Both are somewhat tortured souls barely hanging on to life and this fact unites them in a way that may be an exit out of their misery. Both lead actors do a good job in my opinion and the film has almost no lengths at all during its 1.5 hours runtime from start to finish. Luckily, they aren't going for any try hard humor here as many other German dramas do and fail and that's also one reason why it was a pretty tense watch from start to finish. It is all about the journey. I cared for the characters and I wondered what would happen to them, even if it became clear relatively quickly that at least the girl will survive. I also liked the open ending for sure. I think really a lot was done right here. Very much recommended and I see this one has people working on it who recently worked on another German film "4 Könige" and that one is brilliant to. This one here is really good (only) and I certainly recommend checking it out.
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