Directed By: Jakob Lass Written By: Jakob Lass, Eva-Maria Reimer, Ines Schiller, Hannah Schops & Nicolas Woche Cinematography: Timon Schappi Editor: Adrienne Hudson & Gesa Jager
Cast: Ella Rumpf, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Enno Trebs, Orce Fehschau, Franz Rogowski, Lana Cooper
Having failed to get into the police force, Margarete takes up training as a security guard. One night she runs into a sexually aggressive ex-colleague who insists on hailing a taxi to take her home to his place. Enter Tiger: short brown hair, a tough girl and a fighter, the cab driver. Realizing that the situation is far from consensual, Tiger speeds off with Margarete, leaving her companion standing in the street. It won't be the last time she rushes to Margarete's aid. Tiger lives in an attic flat with two men. She knows how to wield a baseball bat. Stealing a uniform from security and renaming Margarete 'Vanilla', she begins to steer her life in a completely different direction.
Not quite sure what the point of the film. Then again with five different credited screenwriters. That could explain why the film goes off in so many directions. Even though supposedly most of the film's dialogue was improvised.
Is, as the poster makes it almost look like a vigilante film and the way it plays out is an adult coming of age film. Where the two main characters don’t exactly switch personalities but it seems the influence of one in trying to make the other confidence creates a kind of monster that has been lying underneath.
So that the film becomes slightly psychological but never quite reaches a dramatic depth. Most of the characters are unlikeable throughout
The film does come alive in random Fight scenes.
The film plays like a character study where one character is quiet yet wants to be in power as a security guard. She is read randomly by a random person yet never does anything with it though explains her behavior to the audience to a certain degree.
The film starts on many levels thinking it will be a female-empowering vigilante movie, then revenge, or even a bad influence movie, but it seems the characters' mentality changes and switches personalities to a degree. Where one becomes more aggressive and crazy with power. Whereas the other injured and dealing with several degrees of loss becomes quieter. As her friend also seems to go crazy.
Where the audience might be hoping for a kind of superheroic third act. Where friend becomes nemesis and we realize we watched the origin story of each side. It never goes there.
It does show the title character has bad taste when to comes to those she chooses to trust.
It even sets the stage for a villainous male but does nothing but set up more of a reason for one character's rage.
The film seems to have a bunch of elements running around that influence one another but never come together cohesively to make an engaging film in whatever genre it so chooses. As it seems the film realizes it doesn’t have much to run on and decides to make things up late to add Some action to the film
As vanilla becomes a sociopath due to repression, failure and always being told what to do as well as
The film might have been stronger focusing on one or the other strongly and then letting the other be seen more obscured to see how they affect each other and at least give more of a full range to at least one character.
GRADE: D
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