The dream vacation on a Mediterranean island turns into a nightmare for the young couple, Liv and Malte: they are attacked in their holiday home by three teenage males and Liv is brutally raped. Back home in Germany, the two teachers slowly find their way back to everyday normalcy – but then Malte recognises one of the perpetrators and thirsts for revenge. The fragile balance of Liv and Malte's relationship threatens to fall apart again.

The young teacher couple, Liv and Malte, go on holiday to a Mediterranean island. While making love on the beach, they are watched. Later, back at the holiday house, they are attacked by three young Germans and Liv is brutally raped in front of the eyes of the powerless Malte. A scene that goes under the skin and brings Michael Haneke's psycho-horror FUNNY GAMES to mind.

Time apparently heals all wounds: despite the traumatic events, the relationship survives after the couple return to Germany. Everyday life continues, both professionally and personally, with therapy and boxing training. Until Malte accidentally crosses paths with one of the rapists – and follows him. He initially says nothing to Liv, but his desire for revenge is awakened, so he stalks and finally confronts the young culprit. But with the initial secrecy, and his desire for redress and recovery of his own self-image as a man, Malte once again endangers the fragile balance of the relationship. Liv would like to put the whole experience behind her, but she ultimately nevertheless lets herself get drawn into Malte's campaign for justice. German cinema has rarely managed to combine such powerful, excellently portrayed psychodrama with an enthralling genre narrative in this way without playing both against each other.


Reviews and Commentary

"Excellently acted and sensitive, never sensational in its production, this extremely intense film confronts us with the question of whether, after such a drastic event, justice and inner peace can ever be achieved. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUPLE is an honest as well as hopeful love story – about the pain and shame of the victims, and the possible new beginning after a horrible event that has changed everything in one fell swoop."
(Knut Elstermann, MDR Kultur)

"Sven Taddicken explores the everyday reality behind the violent crime statistics, warily sketching how it falls apart because, among other things, men and women react differently: while she is glad to finally be able to forget, he strives for justice and revenge. The greatest strength of this subtle film lies in the actors, above all Maximilian Brückner and Luise Heyer, who never wear flaunt their emotions but, instead, let them quietly boil to the surface – all the fears, doubts and concerns, all the shame and guilt, and finally the shock at becoming perpetrators themselves."
(Anke Sternborg, epd Film)

"THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUPLE does not, however, degenerate into a DEATH WISH story thanks to Liv, who reacts to Malte's investigations with reservation and insists that she herself has closed the book on the story. She doesn't understand why Malte proudly presents the perpetrator to her like a cat does a mouse. Since the couple didn't report the robbery and rape on Mallorca after it happened and no DNA samples were secured from the crime scene, were it taken to court now it would boil down to statement against statement. So, what should be done? Let the one or more perpetrators get away with it unpunished? Who would be helped by such a confrontation? Should the case be taken to court anyway? Or, instead, the perpetrator's life undermined by telling his girlfriend everything? Liv and Malte's relationship does not seem capable of dealing with these and other challenges: misunderstandings, half-truths, and loss of confidence become increasingly palpable. In the meantime: why make a secret of the recent consultation with a therapist?" For all the holes in the screenplay, Luise Heyer and Maximilian Brückner play their roles so convincingly that this oddly superficial couple becomes completely unlikable. When the middle-class couple reads the prole the riot act, Malte's vendetta suddenly also resembles a kind of class struggle. In the end, after the escalation that offers no solution but only postpones it, Malte and Liv come to the agreement that they should tip over the IKEA shelves in their apartment together. Laughing, perhaps even relieved, by this last commonality."
(Ulrich Kriest, Film Dienst)

Director Sven Taddicken in conversation with Michael Ranze, Film Dienst

Ranze: The interesting thing about rape-revenge movies is that they, in the end, license the woman to commit more violence. She needs this catharsis to forget the violent act; at the end, is death. Rationalisation strategies don't seem to be enough.

Taddicken: Revenge is sweet in fantasy, but long term it is neither redemptive nor satisfactory because one gets one's hands dirty with a greater offence – murder, for example. But that's not the point. One is still stuck in what originally happened. Why should one think that ever acceptable? The best revenge is no revenge. Make sure that you're a damn happy person. I think that's much truer. I tried to get that into THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUPLE. The film plays out the possibilities, shows them, and fantasizes them through to the end. But nothing of what happens to the characters is really satisfying.

Ranze: It's not quite that simple. Liv says, after all: "I forgave the culprits long ago." Nevertheless, this forgiveness proves useless.

Taddicken: Yes, that's true. Her forgiveness is there, but tied to her fantasies. Then she is confronted with the culprit as he is cutting boards at a hardware store. There, she realizes that she has held onto something that perhaps isn't even true. She doesn't know all that much more.

Ranze: It already started: the man can't help the woman. And it's not his fault because he was overpowered by the perpetrators. What does that do to him?

Taddicken: When cutting the film, we thought about whether there are moments when the audience might think, "Man, do something finally!" I tried to keep it so that it remains understandable and that one doesn't get the feeling that he could have done something. Still, an uncertainty does remain: that feeling of shame for not being able to prevent the rape, that inability to forgive himself. The term "toxic masculinity" was just coined recently. That plays into it here: he puffs himself up, makes his problem so big that he thinks he has to confront the perpetrators. In doing so, he loses sight of whether doing so is also good for his partner. I find it understandable that he is unable to forgive himself for not being able to do anything. But it is not rational. Nevertheless, many guys can identify with that.


Frederik Lang, 09.05.2019

Production Country

France (FR), Germany (DE)

Production Period

2017/2018

Production Year

2018

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:2,39 (CinemaScope)

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Drama

Topic

Violence, Love, Relationship / Family, Sexuality, Psychology

Scope of Rights

Nichtexklusive nichtkommerzielle öffentliche Aufführung (nonexclusive, noncommercial public screening),Keine TV-Rechte (no TV rights)

Licence Period

11.04.2026

Permanently Restricted Areas

Germany (DE), Austria (AT), Switzerland (CH), China (CN), Taiwan (TW), Japan (JP)

Available Media

DCP, Blu-ray Disc, DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DCP

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (short), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar), Italian (it), Czech (cs)

Note on the Format

DCP verschlüsselt

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (short), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar), Italian (it)

DVD

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (short), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar)

• Das schönste Paar
• Sven Taddicken