The Last Execution

Director: Franziska Stünkel
Germany | 2021 | 116 mins

East Berlin, 1981. Tempted by the offer of a prestigious professorship, ambitious scientist Franz Walter (Lars Eidinger) is recruited by the GDR’s foreign intelligence service. At first, Franz’s missions only seem to serve East Germany’s information needs, but these soon become bigger and more monstrous. Franz decides to get out, but the secret service will not let him go.

A gripping historical drama inspired by the life and death of Werner Teske, the last prisoner executed in the former GDR, director-screenwriter Franziska Stünkel delivers a haunting and intense film about moral dilemmas. Shot largely at original locations in Berlin, The Last Execution paints an authentic picture of the harsh realities in the GDR system and their destructive impact on the individual.