In short: The movie is about Lukas, a boy who moves from his grandparents to Cologne where his older sister lives with her boyfriend. The three take some drugs and out of a sudden Lukas hears multiple voices in his head. After a suicide attempt he is discharged of psychiatry. The voices return as he stops taking his medication. So far, that's the main plot. I was very disappointed, because I have heard so many good critics. Let's start with the positive aspects: The movie is very real, plain and simple shot to make its point. The effects of the voices are great if you own a Dolby surround receiver with 5.1 speakers. The mental illness is supposed to be delivered in its natural form. This works great, but after some time it gets boring. Very well woven is the relationship to his sister. The negative parts: The story is too flat. I expected some insights into the illness itself, some more advice of the psychiatrist, multiple outbursts in different domains. It would have been more interesting watching the protagonist getting healed by the time or how he gets his life together, finds a girlfriend, gets a real job. By the way, has anything to do in his leisure time, some kind of hobby? He seems pretty much in puberty, only drinking, listening to music, driving car etc.
But the main mistake this movie does are the hints given, WHY all this happens. Herety is an important factor for mental illnesses, as well as drug consume. It all doesn't fit together. And instead of showing the options what one could improve or how Lukas learns to cope with his illness they relied on a romantic, Hollywood-like, pathetic ending which doesn't enlist the possibilities one could have with this mental state.
If you expect a movie about a teenager and his problems in a well conveyed style don't hesitate and go see "Das weisse Rauschen". What you won't get is information about the aetiology, the progress, proper treatment or realistic perspective of schizophrenia.
