“Crime scene: Lena’s aunt”: How will the new Odenthal thriller be?
“Crime scene: Lena’s aunt”
How will the new Odenthal thriller be?
Lena Odenthal (Ulrike Folkerts, left), Johanna Stern (Lisa Bitter, right) with Nikola Odenthal (Ursula Werner), who is visiting Ludwigshafen and is very interested in the case of the commissioners.
© SWR/Benoît Linder
Ulrike Folkerts is once again in action in her signature role. Will “Lena’s aunt” be a successful debut for her 34th year of service?
The 77th case in the 34th year of service: Lena Odenthal aka Ulrike Folkerts (61) is once again on the hunt for criminals. In “Tatort: Lena’s Aunt” (January 22 from 8:15 p.m. in the first), the commissioner has to clarify the death of an elderly resident. The screenplay was once again written by the author Stefan Dähnert (61), who is closely associated with the Lena Odenthal “crime scenes”, the film was directed by Tom Lass (39), his first director for the series. A good combination of generations or another Ludwigshafen thriller that has fallen out of time?
That’s what the Odenthal “crime scene: Lena’s aunt” is about
Lena Odenthal (Folkerts) has to balance work and family: Her aunt Niki (Ursula Werner, 79), retired prosecutor, sharp-tongued and assertive, comes to visit Ludwigshafen. At the same time, Lena and Johanna Stern (Lisa Bitter, 39) are dealing with the death of a nursing home resident who was killed by an insulin overdose. Herr Herrweg was over 90, the most you can inherit is obligations – who had a motive to kill him?
The inspectors examine the residents of the home as well as the victim’s past. While Johanna would appreciate it if the nursing home’s sympathetic family doctor (Johannes Dullin) weren’t involved in the case, Lena strangely keeps getting the impression that Niki is also secretly involved in the investigation. Her aunt’s interest in the dead man’s past seems to be more than just family affinity or professional interest. Nevertheless, Lena pushes away the thought that her aunt could be involved in the case. But the Herrweg case leads the commissioners into the depths of German history, and Niki in particular has a lot of experience with that.
Is it worth turning on?
Well, the Ludwigshafen crime novels have not played in the top “crime scene” league for many years. The dialogues are too wooden, the characters too one-dimensional, the plot too thin, the acting too clumsy. Unfortunately, “Lena’s aunt” can’t really shake this long-held impression. So it really is more and more time for new ideas from Rhineland-Palatinate.
But: This film is still one of the better Odenthal entries in recent years. Even if the problems of conspiracy theorists and nursing staff shortages are intentional and sometimes involuntarily funny, the bottom line is that an acceptable Sunday evening “crime scene” remains. Somewhat exciting, some surprising, some short-lived. An average thriller as it is in the book, about which ten minutes after the end no one will talk anymore.
