Gisela is a young mother in the suburb of an unnamed German city who divides her time between caring for her toddler son and working as a supermarket checker. Despite the indifference, or even hostility, of her resentful husband, she seems content to accept her lot. The main threat to the apparent calm of this existence is the lurking presence of Paul, a ne’er-do-well from Gisela’s school days. When Paul introduces his brooding friend Georg to Gisela, the attraction between them establishes an unstable triangle as Stever lays out a string of events that constantly force us to re-evaluate our sympathies with the characters and our fears for them. In pointed distinction to the mobility and velocity represented by, for example, Run Lola Run, the figures in Stever’s films seem obstinately stuck, resistant to any easy solution of their problems. – DP