
The perfect secret (Das perfekte Geheimnis)
Imagine you know absolutely everything about another person, and you can fully predict what the person will think and do in the future. Would this help or hurt a relationship? This extreme form of knowing someone else does no exist but we all have a sense that we know some people much better than others. Some people we can trust and we can predict with high certainty that they will behave well toward us. Other people, by contrast, are complete wild cards and their unpredictability in thought and action can terrorize us.
This new German comedy has a very clever hook, which apparently was first used in an Italian film. Four guys who have been friends since childhood plan to meet with their spouses, partners or girlfriends for dinner. One girlfriend excuses herself (as she always seems to do) and so they are 3 couples and one male without date. It is clear from the opening of the film the host couple has marriage problems and they seem to be on the verge of a breakup. Very quickly the issue of trust comes up. The female host suggests a game because she does not believe her husband’s denial of having an affair: The mobile phones of all 7 diners shall be put in the middle of the table and when anyone gets a message they have to read the message aloud. Now the fun starts and the director and writer manage to surprise us a number of times. This film is a lot of fun and brings into the center that in any relationship there is a delicate balance between not knowing everything another person and leaving them space but at the same time trusting them that they will not let stand in the rain when you need shelter.