22 Bahnen

Tilda's days are strictly regimented: studying, working the register at a supermarket, and caring for her younger sister Ida — and, on bad days, their alcoholic mother. The three of them live in the saddest house on Fröhlichstraße, in a small town Tilda despises. Her friends left long ago for Amsterdam or Berlin; only Tilda stayed behind, because someone has to be there for Ida, earn money, and carry the responsibility. There are no fathers worth mentioning.

Then things start to shift: Tilda is offered a doctoral position in Berlin, and a future that promises freedom flickers into view. And Viktor reappears — the older brother of Ivan, who Tilda used to be friends with, and who, like her, always swims 22 lengths. Just as Tilda begins to believe things might work out, the situation at home spirals completely out of control.

22 Bahnen is a raw and tender story about the damage family life can do, and about finding happiness somewhere between responsibility and freedom.