In the Fade 2017

Several years after spending four years behind bars for drug-related offenses, Kurdish-German Nuri Şekerci leads a tranquil life with his German wife, Katja Sekerci, and their six-year-old son, Rocco. A typical day takes a tragic turn when Katja drops Rocco off at Nuri’s travel agency in Hamburg to meet a friend. Before leaving, she warns a young blonde woman about the risk of having her bicycle stolen if left unsecured. However, when Katja returns that evening, she is devastated to find the street cordoned off due to a nail bomb explosion that has claimed the lives of Nuri and Rocco.

In her overwhelming grief, Katja informs the authorities about the blonde woman, believing the heinous act to be linked to Neo-Nazi extremism. Surprisingly, the police dismiss any Islamic motives since Nuri was not politically active or particularly religious. Instead, they examine the possibility that the murders stem from revenge by drug dealers. As they distribute a sketch of the young woman, Katja faces enormous pressure—Nuri’s parents suggest she could have done a better job as a mother, implying her failure resulted in the loss of their grandson. The weight of the sorrow pushes her into a dark spiral of drug use and a near-fatal suicide attempt, but hope flickers when her lawyer, Danilo Fava, informs her that two suspects—married couple André and Edda Möller—have been apprehended.

During the trial, horrifying details emerge as André’s father reveals shocking evidence found in the family garage—bags of nails, fertilizer, and diesel. The defense introduces theories that an external party might be responsible, raising doubts about the Möllers’ guilt. Forensic results indicate that the bomb materials were consistent with those in the Möller’s garage, but fingerprints of an unidentified person complicate the case. In a twist, Nikolaos Makris, a Greek hotelier, states that the Möllers were in Greece at the time of the attack. However, links to the far-right party Golden Dawn and social media posts from the Möllers create more questions than answers. When Katja takes the stand, her substance abuse is exploited to undermine her credibility, and despite her testimony about seeing Edda at the scene, reasonable doubt prevails, leading to the couple’s acquittal.

Furious and deeply unsettled, Katja discovers the Möllers’ location in Greece through a Facebook update and tracks them down with the help of Makris’ hotel. She finds them camping on the beach and, in a twisted moment of revenge, constructs a nail bomb intended for their RV. Initially, she hesitates, reclaiming the ominous device, but her resolve fortifies after a few contemplative days. On the chosen day, she stealthily enters the RV armed with the bomb, resulting in a catastrophic explosion that kills both the Möllers and herself, in a tragic act born from profound anguish and despair.