Phantom 1922

Lorenz Lubota [Alfred Abel] is a lowly clerk in a small government office, an aspiring poet who lives under the shadow of a worried mother and a strained dynamic with his sister, Melanie Lubota [Aud Egede-Nissen]. This delicate family balance becomes the backdrop for a dreamer who cannot quite reconcile his artistic ambitions with the pressures of everyday life. Lorenz’s world tilts the day he crosses paths with a striking driver, Veronika Harlan / Mellitta [Lya De Putti], as a carriage pulling two white horses sends him sprawling in the road. From that moment, Veronika enters his thoughts with a stubborn, almost merciless persistence, a memory that gnaws at him far more than any physical wound could.

Veronika [Lya De Putti] is a figure of wealth and social distance, and Lorenz’s infatuation costs him dearly. He loses his job after obsession overruns his responsibilities, and the more he chases the image of Veronika, the more it fragments his reality. He pleads with his Aunt Schwabe [Grete Berger], a hard-nosed pawnbroker, for money to buy a new suit in the hope of meeting a publisher who might finally recognize his poetry, a crucial step he believes will legitimize his artistic voice. Wigottschinski [Anton Edthofer], Schwabe’s crafty assistant, nudges Lorenz toward reckless celebration, and soon Lorenz’s family circle is pulled further into a spiral of ambition, debt, and rumors.

In the wake of Veronika’s absence, Lorenz singles out a golddigger who resembles Veronika and lavishes her with gifts, a misguided attempt to recapture the spark he cannot let go of. This duplicate image keeps looping in his mind as the pressures at home mount: the fearsome worry of Lubota’s Mutter [Frida Richard], the mother who suspects and disciplines, and the troubling realization that his sister Melanie [Aud Egede-Nissen] might be pulled into a darker path, further straining the family’s already fragile harmony. Marie Starke [Lil Dagover], Lorenz’s friend, and her father become aware that his poems are no longer heading toward publication, a setback that compounds the emotional toll on everyone around him.

The plot thickens as Wigottschinski schemes to extract more money from Schwabe and hands Lorenz a sizable sum. Schwabe, increasingly wary, demands repayment within three days, threatening to call the police if Lorenz cannot deliver. In a desperate bid to salvage himself, Lorenz agrees to a dangerous scheme: break into Schwabe’s house after she goes to sleep and steal enough money to cover the loan. The plan spirals violently out of control when Schwabe stirs awake, cries out for help, and a struggle ensues. Wigottschinski kills Schwabe in the ensuing confrontation, and Melanie manages a fleeting reunion with their mother before she vanishes again into the shadows.

Arrest and punishment follow as Lorenz is taken away, his freedom curtailed by the weight of a crime born from a mind chasing a phantom. After a prison term, the narrative returns to the present, framing Lorenz’s life as a memory he must confront and parse. He writes his life story in an attempt to purge the specter that has haunted him since that fateful day—the carriage who arrived on two white horses and left an indelible mark on his soul. In the closing chapters, Lorenz has found a new life with Marie, a measure of resolution that contrasts with the ruin he left behind, suggesting the possibility of healing through storytelling and connection.

Throughout, the film dives into the fragile line between imagination and reality, exploring how obsession, social class, and family obligation can push a dreamer toward acts that threaten to erase the self he hopes to become. The extended flashback structure foregrounds memory as a living force, as vivid as the memory of Veronika [Lya De Putti] and as perilous as the consequences of the choices Lorenz [Alfred Abel] makes when the world seems to crumble around him. The result is a mournful, introspective meditation on desire, guilt, and the cost of living inside a dream while the real world demands payment.