User Reviews

"Back for Good" is a new German 90-minute movie from 2018 written and directed by Mia Spengler, a young aspiring filmmaker in her early 30s and this is her first full feature film I think. Looking at the success it managed at awards bodies, this was quite a strong start for her without a doubt. Well, I can share the praise only to some extent. The one who really stands out here is lead actress Kim Riedle who impressed me with her portrayal of a heart-felt Daniela Katzenberger equivalent who struggles in life, love and career. We'll get to that later in detail. Her turn is even more impressive seeing where she comes from, namely as a regular from German daily soap Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love) and if you heard the name of this show or shows like GZSZ etc., then you know how rare it is for one of the actors from these to really prove their talent on the big screen. Riedle is a bit of a revelation from that perspective, no doubt about it. Or maybe she just felt so right because honestly there is a great deal of weakness next to her in terms of the script most of all. The other two key supporting actresses Köhler and Wesselow were decent too though. Acting really isn't a problem here. But yeah, the script. There are more than just a few moments where it did not feel right. Obviously the intention was to show us there is more behind these (German) starlets heading out of DSDS, GNTM, Bachelor etc. with their next career objecting being the "celebrity" jungle survival show. At least to some of them like the one we find out about in here. It's not a bad idea I think as many of these really struggle with their reputation here in Germany, but honestly many rightfully do so as they have absolutely no talent in any field that is good enough for them to be a celebrity and this certainly applies to our "heroine" in here as well and this the ending is fitting with her getting a somewhat ordinary job with a friend who seems to actually care for her. But all the key drama moments here just don't feel right, like when she exposes her breasts, becomes unconscious basically and this was supposed to be the big moment that changes her mind. Or the part about the teenage girl's sickness that just rang very false and for the sake of creating drama next to the protagonist that is supposed to change her mind and show us who she really is. Or near the end, the moment she fully decides to stay away from all these celebrity reality shows that just came out of nowhere. No comment on the idea who the girl's real mother is. The state of things, the situation of the main character per se was not bad and felt original and realistic and that's quite an achievement looking at the world of fake glamour that defines her life. But everything that adds to coming-of-age, character development and making things right did do nothing for me basically and could not convince me at all in terms of realism. The ending doesn't help either. It was really all fixed too quickly for the sake of audiences leaving the theatre with a smile with these major major issues and problems coming up just minutes earlier. I would not have minded a (very) unhappy ending or at least one that felt like closure without happiness. Looks like Spengler wasn't ready for that yet. Shame. She did have the cast to pull it off for sure. But the way things looked here for the most part nd how they turned out, I just cannot give this movie a thumbs-up. The praise is not justified. It just tries to be too much, make too big of an impact and comes short in crucial areas as a consequences, maybe because of lack of sufficient talent, experience or focus. Watch something else instead.