Today on Arte: “Das Haus” – science fiction with Tobias Moretti

The star of this all too quiet science fiction drama is not Tobias Moretti, but the high-tech domicile that gives it the title.

Frankfurt – Houses develop a life of their own and make life hell for their residents: This is a popular horror film motif. The root of the evil are mostly the restless souls of the deceased or some demons. In Rick Ostermann’s drama with the simple title “Das Haus”, however, the ghost is definitely of a worldly nature: the technology is behind it. The film is based on a short story by Dirk Kurbjuweit.

Its Spiegel texts are regularly characterized by a decided attitude, and that is why both the template and its implementation behind the science fiction facade are about politics: Shortly before the federal elections in 2029, it is becoming apparent that they will now ruling right-wing populists will get an absolute majority.

“Das Haus” (Arte): Science fiction drama in an authoritarian Germany

However, there are already rigid measures: after an article critical of the system, the journalist Johann Hellström (Tobias Moretti) has been dismissed. Allegedly he falsified facts and quotes; now any form of publication is prohibited. Together with his wife Lucia (Valery Tscheplanowa) he retires to his holiday home on an island. The domicile is a “smart home” whose residents hardly have to lift a finger because the house responds to calls or even acts of its own accord: As soon as Lucia drops her covers to seduce Johann, the fire goes on as if by magic .

Ostermann, who wrote the script together with Patrick Brunken, refrains from putting the high-tech frills too much in the foreground, but of course the technical level develops a great fascination, which is why the political level inevitably takes a back seat at first moves.

Hellström’s diary entries and occasional glances at the TV news ensure that it is not entirely forgotten: almost two dozen people died in an attack on a police academy. Hellström is now considered a spiritual arsonist: His article is said to have incited government opponents to the act of terrorism.

“Das Haus” (Arte): quiet thriller

The group allegedly behind the attack also includes a young woman, whose role initially remains unnecessarily unclear. Eventually it turns out that Lucia Hellström is a lawyer and Leyla (Lisa Vicari) is her client. When Leyla and her friend Max (Max von der Groeben) appear on the island because Lucia wants to help them escape to England, Hellström is shocked: Now it looks like he’s in cahoots with the assassins.

Almost exactly half the length of the film is a two-person piece with three actors: From the start, Ostermann, who most recently directed the award-winning ARD drama “Friends” with Justus von Dohnányi and Ulrich Matthes, leaves no doubt that that Hausfar is more than just an observer.

Regular cuts to the central brain of the system are reminiscent of corresponding shots from Stanley Kubrick’s classic “2001 – A Space Odyssey”. In the spaceship opus, the HAL on-board computer kills the crew, and there will also be deaths in Ostermann’s quiet thriller. Hellström is convinced that his house is being manipulated from the outside, but it is a closed system: the enemy is inside.

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“Das Haus” (Arte): The charm results from the surprises that the villa provides

“Das Haus” is part of a joint project by NDR and SWR. The broadcasters asked several writers to tell “Tales of Tomorrow”; the science fiction film “Exit” (2020), which is extremely unusual for local conditions, a game with appearance and reality reminiscent of the “Matrix” trilogy, was the first project that was created based on a corresponding template.

Unlike “Exit”, however, Ostermann’s work is very much rooted in today. The attraction results primarily from the surprises for which the villa (a house near Stockholm served as a “double”) regularly provides: Sometimes she plays a video for stimulation during sex that shows Lucia having an affair, sometimes she locks the couple out.

All of this can be a coincidence, but then an event occurs for which Hellström has only one explanation: his house is alive and it seems to have something against Lucia; It’s actually a shame that the question of whether an artificial intelligence can feel something like jealousy is not discussed further. Apart from that, Ostermann could have staged the film a little more exciting, especially since the plot has little dynamism anyway. (Tilmann P. Gangloff)