Combat Girls 2011

The movie opens with Marisa dying on a cold northern shore, with her friend Svenja nearby, setting a stark, haunting tone. From there, it unfolds the path that led to that moment, tracing the girls as they move deeper into, and at times drift away from, a neonazi circle.

As a child, Franz – Marisa’s grandfather – teaches her how to carry a heavy backpack filled with sand, rewarding her only when she meets his expectations with a careful, almost ritual hug. Behind the warmth, a troubling truth surfaces: the grandfather once harassed and beat Marisa’s mother for her pregnancy, a revelation that casts a long shadow over the family’s history.

By the time she is twenty, [Marisa] remains rooted in the same town, still visiting the sick grandfather in the hospital, who lies frail and dying. Yet the same weekends pull her toward a violent, exuberant, in‑the‑moment crowd of neo‑Nazi youths. Alongside her is Sandro, and together they brutalize foreigners on a train and even lash out at a conductor. The police raid their home during a moment of quiet, and the pair find themselves under arrest, with [Sandro] sent to prison.

Meanwhile, [Svenja]’s life grows more fragile under the stern rule of her stepfather, a regime she eventually resents. She meets Markus, a twenty‑year‑old who works for her family in the garden, and he becomes part of the same violent, reckless world. The lure of the gang’s party vibe draws Svenja deeper, fueling an appetite for the risky, the loud, and the immediate.

When [Sandro] is released, Marisa’s mother Frau Kachel cannot tolerate the idea of Sandro moving back in or of Marisa wanting a child with him. A heated argument erupts in the local grocery shop where the two work, and in the same moment, two young Afghan refugees—Rasul and Jamil—enter the frame as targets of Marisa’s dark mood.

The group gathers again at the shore, where they drink heavily and chant hostile slogans about the two newcomers. Rasul and Jamil are driven away, and a triggered moment follows: Rasul smashes Marisa’s car’s side mirror in a fit of rage. Later, Marisa discovers the broken mirror and chases the two as they head home on Jamil’s scooter. She uses her car as a weapon, ramming them off the road, then escapes the scene to drown her conscience in alcohol. Svenja, now accompanied by a friend, arrives at the beach but is driven away by Marisa’s anger.

A turning point comes when Marisa encounters Rasul again at work; he is short on money, and she still helps him with purchases. Rasul’s circumstances worsen, and Jamil’s papers are checked in hospital, revealing deportation proceedings. Rasul faces life in an orphanage, but he evades his guardians and is caught shoplifting by Marisa’s mother. Marisa defends him, then follows him to his hiding place where he helps tend to a foot injury she sustains.

[Sandro] is freed again, and Marisa hatches a plan to help Rasul reach Sweden, where his uncle lives. She urges Svenja to join them, especially since Svenja has recently fled home with a large sum of money stolen from her stepfather. The trio makes their way toward the island of Rügen, planning a boat departure to Sweden. The journey culminates when Sandro closes in, firing a single shot from the pistol he bought, striking Marisa dead moments after Rasul has left on a boat. In the wake of the tragedy, the dream of escape dissolves into a final, devastating moment.