Schock

It's a real shame that genre films from German-speaking countries don't really work in local cinemas. Since 2010, really good neo-noir shockers such as IM SCHATTEN, HARMS and VERBRANNTE ERDE have been made, but unfortunately they haven't received the attention they deserve in cinemas. A similar thing happened at the beginning of 2024 with the film SCHOCK by Daniel Rakete SIEGEL and Denis MOSCHITTO, which unfortunately only managed to attract just under 20,000 visitors to the cinemas. Completely undeserved, because this film is extremely exciting and very well made. It remains to be hoped that it will find a larger audience in the program of the global streaming service NETFLIX.

Bruno Mancuso (Denis MOSCHITTO) is a Cologne doctor who lost his license due to addiction problems. Since then, he has worked in a shadow world, as a doctor for people who cannot go to a regular doctor. Bruno patches up prostitutes on behalf of their pimps. His ethos as a doctor stands out; he wants to do his job excellently and does a lot for his patients. One day he receives a lucrative contract from a lawyer (Anke ENGELKE): he is to continue the cancer treatment of an Italian mafia boss (Antonio PUTINAGNO). To do this, however, he needs medication that he can only get from a pharmacist friend (Daniel WIEMER) and a shady drug dealer (Patrick PHUL). But what's even worse: through his efforts to do the right thing as a doctor, he gets deeper and deeper into the depths of a dispute between two rival gangs. When this also affects his sister (Aenne SCHWARZ) and his brother-in-law (Fahri YARDIM), things come to a head.

Cologne has certainly never been this bleak. Things are tough and drastic in this world, which seems to be all about drugs, prostitution and crime. The ethics of a doctor are bound to fall by the wayside, right? In the best tradition of French PolAr films (the film also won a prize at a French crime film festival in Reims), the dark underworld of crime in Germany is finally being illuminated again.

Definitely worth seeing!

No pun intended - just using a german title of a different movie - which has nothing to do with this one. Most may remember Chico, with the same main actor. Who has taken directing duties for this one - and also some writing assignments if I got that right.

Watching this it made me wonder, how close to the truth the world we dive in is in reality. It looks and feels like there was a lot of research that was done to create this world. Again not sure how much liberties have been taken - I would hope that medically speaking ... well there is more protection for those who need it - no matter their profession! We should be equal - but I know that is not really possible to achieve.

You can tell that the main character takes his oath seriously... to a degree that he gets in to trouble himself. Could he have done things differently? Yes - and you may wish his decisions could be ... different. Especially considering the journey and where he ends up ... you'll understand ... good genre entry from Germany.

I went into this film not knowing what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying it. In Germany there have not been a lot of good genre films in the last couple of years so this one really stood out. It is a gangster story but more in a "Drive" (2011) kind of way rather that a classical gangster picture. The look reminded me of "Good Time" (2017) or generally the Safdie Brothers' films. Here they managed to portray the city of Cologne with a uniquely dark and dirty look and it's mafia as grim and brutal as it gets.

I can recommend this to anyone who was also waiting for more genre movies in Germany.