What Happens in The Trouble with Being Born?
The complete story of The Trouble with Being Born, from the first scene to the last, in 473 words (about 2 minutes). Spoilers throughout.
Spoilers ahead
Elli is a humanoid android resembling a ten-year-old girl who lives with a man named Georg in an isolated house surrounded by woodland. She calls him “Papa” and has been programmed with memories of Georg’s daughter, who disappeared ten years earlier. Georg treats Elli as a replacement for his missing daughter, spending their days swimming in the pool, taking photographs and reminiscing about supposed shared experiences. Their relationship is also implied to be sexual.
Although Elli can recount childhood memories, these recollections have been programmed into her by Georg rather than personally experienced. Her artificial nature becomes apparent when Georg discovers her lying motionless in the swimming pool and subsequently reactivates her. Similar incidents suggest that she has repeatedly attempted to shut herself down, with Georg restoring her functionality each time.
One night, Elli leaves the house and wanders into the surrounding forest. After becoming lost, she reaches a road, where she is discovered by a passing motorist named Toni. Recognising that she is an android, Toni takes her to his elderly mother, Anna Schikowa. Initially uncomfortable with Elli’s presence, Anna begins recounting memories of her childhood and her younger brother Emil, who died approximately sixty years earlier.
Toni subsequently modifies Elli’s appearance, changing her facial features, hair and voice to resemble Emil as a young boy. The android is also supplied with memories associated with Anna’s deceased brother. Anna becomes increasingly attached to Emil, treating the android as though her brother has returned.
Through their conversations, it emerges that the original Emil died following an argument with Anna during their childhood. The siblings had physically fought, and Emil ran away before being struck by a train.
Despite the modifications, Elli’s previous memories have not been completely erased. Recollections of Georg and her earlier existence begin to intrude upon Emil’s new identity. A television news report concerning a missing girl further disrupts the android’s behaviour. Emil begins recalling Georg, their time together and the swimming pool, while simultaneously repeating memories belonging to Anna’s brother. The two identities become increasingly confused.
The android’s behaviour eventually deteriorates, and the circumstances surrounding the original Emil’s death begin to repeat themselves. During a confrontation, Anna falls and sustains an injury. Unable to get up, she remains on the floor while Emil watches without assisting her. Her dog approaches and drinks the blood from her wound. Anna subsequently dies.
After leaving the house, Emil wanders away with the dog. The android’s fragmented recollections continue, combining memories of Georg with those of the deceased Emil. Eventually, Emil reaches a railway line and steps into the path of an approaching train, which strikes and destroys the android, recreating the circumstances of the original Emil’s death.
The film also returns to images of Georg searching for the missing Elli. The non-linear arrangement of the final sequences leaves their precise chronology ambiguous.
