Joy and sorrow are often close together in the "crime scene". It's no different in the latest episode from Dresden: Gorniak's boozy birthday turns into a tough investigation into domestic violence.
The glittering top has been pulled on, the first sips of sparkling wine have been taken directly from the bottle and inspector Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) and her colleague Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) are more than ready for a wild birthday party when they are called to an urgent operation : The influential Dresden entrepreneur Simon Fischer (Christian Bayer) has reported his wife Kathrin (Amelie Kiefer) missing. The investigation, which was initially quite boisterous, quickly turns bloody serious, the huge property resembles a battlefield. There is no trace of the missing person, but the amount of blood alone suggests that she may already be dead.
The husband himself is quickly identified as the main suspect: Fischer is known in the neighborhood for his violent outbursts, and Gorniak also senses the brutal side of the entrepreneur based on his own experiences with domestic violence. But the missing wife, who was on the Internet as a "happiness seeker" and preached natural-philosophical wisdom to her followers, doesn't seem entirely clean either. In search of the truth, the Dresden investigators descend deep into the abyss of a toxic marriage.
About domestic violence and the fatal dynamics of toxic relationships. Director Anne Zohra Berrached puts it this way: "As the case progresses, the detectives get more and more insight into the toxic relationship of a married couple. A violent man and a woman who won't leave him. But does a violent man make a murderer?"
Not a real zapp moment, but a bit strange: the scene in which the KTU and the detective colleagues congratulate Inspector Gorniak in the mansion to be searched at midnight with a big Bohei and party hats to congratulate her on her birthday.
The intensity with which Christian Bayer plays the role of Simon Fischer is impressive. Bayer manages the abrupt transitions between exaggerated sensitivity and brutal outbursts of violence perfectly. "The exciting thing about this character is the alternation between a superiority complex and a feeling of inferiority," says the actor, who is otherwise only seen in theaters, about his role.
8.5 out of 10 points. "The cold house" is a very successful thriller about domestic violence. And director Berrached manages, as in the Lindholm episode "Der Fall Holdt", to keep the suspense for 90 minutes, although there is basically only one suspect from the start.
