Original subtitles

HI AND HELLO AND YO, ETC.

THIS IS HELENE

THIS STORY IS BASED

ON TRUE EVENTS.

I'm Helene.

I'm new here.

Oh well.

Right, Ms. Sternberg,

walk this way.

THIS STORY IS BASED ON TRUE EVENTS.

THIS STORY IS BASED

BASED.

I'm Helene.

I just wanted to tell you, you're going to die and I'm partly to blame.

Well, not just that, but... I'll tell you the story from the start.

1 | TREE

Here I am, on my way to peace of mind.

It's somewhere in the woods.

Only a third of the trees around here are still standing,

because I torched quite a few of them.

But... yeah, that's another story.

Somewhere back there, near my torched forest,

should be peace of mind, so that's where I'm going.

I'd really like a burger right now or a wrap.

Unfortunately, the e-scooter's range ends here.

Not far from peace of mind.

Oh no.

My friends and I haven't talked turkey with each other for ages.

So...

Listen. I've got to tell you something.

It's about...

Chris.

To be honest, I don't think we've got much of a chance.

The edge is missing.

Edge?

Yeah.

-And what does that mean? -No idea. It's what you said to me.

Anyway, I got the impression he was laughing at the way I kiss.

How do you kiss?

That's very sensuous.

So that means that you've got a lot of free time now, right?

Well, I'm in love with someone new now.

Sheikh.

I hope you don't mind.

No.

Shall we hang from the pine trees and listen to audio books?

To be honest, I want to do something with Sheikh now.

Sure.

Okay.

So I'll see you...

I'll be in touch.

Okay.

The number of friends I had

had just decreased by another 100 percent...

to...

zero.

And I'm slowly beginning to wonder

why wherever I go,

things end up as ashes.

Scorched earth.

Does it have something to do with the earth or with me?

And do I have to just live with that or maybe make some changes?

And why do I sleep so fucking badly?

I need a point zero, where there's nothing left.

Where I can just lie on the scorched earth.

Like a mourning seahorse.

Without anyone looking at me or asking me anything.

Or understanding me or categorizing me.

Or upgrading me or impressing me.

Silence de la soul.

I think I'm on the right track.

Or I was.

-Assala-maik-um, Maiki. -Helene.

-What are you doing? -I'm...

-I'm jotting some stuff down. -What do you mean, "jotting stuff down"?

-Normal. On my Mac. -Which Mac?

The computer Mac? I'm jotting down stuff on my Mac.

Yes, but in what way are you jotting stuff down on your Mac?

What do you mean, "In what way are you jotting stuff down?"

I'm jotting stuff down.

I know what you mean by jotting stuff down on your Mac.

But what are you jotting down?

Since when has jotting something down,

and then saying on the phone you're jotting something down,

been about what you're actually jotting down?

Listen, Helene, I need your help.

WAIT, I NEED TO TELL YOU THIS

IN PERSON.

You can't begin to imagine what this sentence means to me.

-She said: -I need your help.

-She really said: -I need your help.

Sorry, I...

I didn't quite hear what you just said.

I need your help, Helene. Now.

-Where? -Vaginality.

Vaginality. Our feminist ideas hub at Mountain of Talent.

Right, okay.

-Say it again. -Vaginality?

-The other thing. -Feminist ideas hub?

The other thing.

-I won't say that I told you so. -But you told me so.

Yes, I told you so.

But she's coming.

Thanks for that look, Jason, but I'm not focusing

on the emotional awareness between us right now.

I mean, she's like a field with really fertile soil.

And you just have to plant flowers on it.

-Yes, maybe. -But?

No, no but.

Fertile ground, Jason.

Have you ever seen a person with so fucking much potential?

But there are fields that remain fields.

We can brainstorm the ideas for My Compost Watch.

We've got two suggestions.

I've asked Maike for help my whole life.

For the first time ever, she's asked me for help.

Maybe this is the gateway to peace of mind.

It's so great you've come.

A few weeks ago, we got a huge budget

to create an app that targets a market of female and diverse 20 to 30-year-olds.

This is a real chance for us.

The investor does believe in us, but our ideas keep falling flat with him.

They're not crazy enough.

He wants something really deranged.

I'm quoting.

-And that's why I'm here. -Yes.

Okay.

I'm scared we'll lose the job if we don't give him something deranged.

You can go ahead and take the persimmon.

Do you like it here?

Yes, they look like...

tents.

Yes, exactly.

It's great that you see that.

We developed the space

to be reminiscent of traditional African nomadic forms of conversation.

We're not colonizing, we're just camping.

We have community tents here.

And then there are several work and mindfulness areas.

What happened there?

YES, WHAT DID HAPPEN THERE?

THIS HAPPENED.

3 MONTHS EARLIER

-Hey. Hello. Helene Sternberg. -Right. Okay.

So, Ms. Sternberg.

According to my documents, you are here for therapy,

as the probation condition of your suspended sentence

for the negligent burning of a forest

as per paragraphs 306 to 306f of the Penal Code.

Correct.

It smelled nice in the clinic. You could see your face in the apples.

-Fine. Thanks. -Okay.

-Bye. -Ciao.

Yes, you are here with us for behavioral therapy.

Yes, we have bars on the windows, but the doors aren't locked.

We're not a detention center.

We have a patient-oriented and interdisciplinary approach.

-You don't need to lie down. -No, I'd like to.

Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions?

A dust mite allergy.

And at 15, I was diagnosed with a preferfect.

-A what? -A preferoriect.

-Is that a personality disorder? -Nonsense.

Right.

Take a deep breath.

Sit up.

About the dust mites, I like living with my allergy.

I was given injections for a while to acclimatize my body to the mites.

But I found out I was actually allergic to their feces, not the mites themselves.

-So I stopped the injections. -Hold your breath.

Or would you like to have mite excrement injected into you?

I'm also asymmetrical.

My face, my feet. My breasts too. And the roof of my mouth.

If you could just stop speaking, please.

Thanks.

Pleasure.

Right.

I was actually about to go on a trip.

So I have a question for you. How long will all this take?

So the check-up and then the therapy...

How long until my wires are rewired and I can leave the repair shop?

If you could open your mouth for me, please.

I've entered Maike's realm,

where heels click on floors

and you gorge on fruit.

-Hi, Jason. -Welcome to Vaginality.

-Hi... -Hi.

All right.

-They are Elonde Ntugse. -Hey.

Nice to meet you, Elonde. And you, Ntugse.

I'm Cari, he/him.

Right.

Pleased to meet you, Ntugse.

I'm Gabriel.

He/him.

-They are Elonde Ntugse. -Yes. They/them.

-I'm a graphic designer. -Right, nice.

Nice to meet you, Elonde Ntugse.

I'd say let's do a round of introductions.

Hello.

New, right?

Yes, exactly.

Get yourself some food. It was teaching kitchen today. We made lasagna.

-What's "teaching kitchen"? -We cook together.

Learn about nutrition.

It's about doing therapy in every area of life here.

-Yes. -The lasagna is a bit bland.

Yes, it's a bit bland today.

It needs seasoning.

-Nutmeg. -Nonsense.

It's a good trick, though.

If you don't add seasoning, you don't eat as much.

You don't put on weight.

I take lorazepam.

In the last two weeks, I've gained 13 pounds as a result.

It doesn't matter if you're depressed and slim

or depressed and fat.

I don't wear make-up anymore either.

I still wear make-up.

Each of us only needs to disclose what we feel comfortable with.

I'm Maike.

She/her.

I'm 25 years old and together with my partner,

cis straight male, Asian background, Jason,

I'm the owner of the agency Vaginality.

We used to be called Boost2BeBest.

I studied African studies, communication science and management.

And I've now been in charge for...

-Three years. -...three years, yes.

My God.

If you do the math, Maike would have had to start studying aged five.

My name is Cari.

My parents are from New Jersey, but I grew up in the Bronx and Frankfurt.

50-50, more or less.

I worked for a long time on a cultural project,

dealing with the land reclamation of the Californian Nisenan people.

Then I moved into the private sector, working on a project with Sony.

Yes, Sony. I know them.

Yes?

Yes.

In what division did you work?

I've just got old headphones that no longer fit my ears.

I...

The CLAP division.

Okay.

Well.

Right?

I was active in the London techno scene

and in an urban gardening micro-block.

After that, I was a literature scout for queer poetry in northern Europe.

-Cool. -And you?

Well, so...

I'm Helene, she/her.

I was born on July 6, 1997, on the same day as Maike.

I come from here.

And from Languedoc.

So 50 percent here, 50 percent Languedoc.

On the one hand...

I'm a chef specializing in experimental micro-aromas

at the Kitchen University of LAMB.

And I'm also an independent lawyer

and a freelance... nu-mi-nu gadget.

And in my spare time, I work as a tree.

-As a tree? -Yes, as a tree.

As in climate protection?

No, as in a tree.

As in nature religion?

No, as in a tree.

-Good. -Okay, cool.

Great. Good.

-Okay. -Cool.

There are our ideas.

And what do you do for a living?

-I'm not at liberty to say. -Tell us.

-No. -Are you a celebrity or something?

No, so...

You really can't tell anyone, okay?

Because otherwise there's no point.

I'm from the Public Health Department.

And you just had enough of all the food inspections?

That's what made you depressed?

No, I'm carrying out an inspection here to check if everything's running smoothly.

There have been accusations against Berg-Berth,

saying his methods are outdated.

So you're kind of undercover?

Exactly.

My name's not Helene Sternberg either.

I'm an undercover patient.

My real name is Dörte Frese.

-Okay, cool. -Yes.

I'm a painter and varnisher.

And why are you all here?

Okay.

Let me guess.

You were left by your husband on Tenerife.

Now the villa feels so big and lonely.

You play Chopin once a day for yourself, alone on the piano.

But that pisses you off. And that's why you're depressed.

We don't talk about our symptoms in the kitchen area.

Right.

Yes.

Right, you're a former speed skater.

You can no longer skate due to a leg fracture,

so you have no purpose in life.

You experimented with Buddhist ideas,

but ultimately found them to be illogical.

Then you ended up watching so much porn online

that your sensory system could no longer cope with reality.

And you...

I can't see anything for you, because whenever I look at you,

a song starts, the kind truckers listen to on their break.

Helene?

Would you like to share an unconventional idea with us?

Just go for it.

And don't worry, we can talk trash here.

-We love trash. -Anything goes.

Just spit out what's inside you.

Yes, just spit it out.

So exactly what's in my head right now?

Exactly.

What are you reading?

The Dimension Next to the Dimension.

That's cosmology, right?

Like, it's possible this and that are there, but if not, that's possible to.

And at that moment, because you thought it was possible, it's good.

I'm Helene. I'm new here.

And I feel as if I know you somehow, without knowing where from.

Maybe I'm just imagining you. Is that possible?

But you're sitting right here.

Oh well.

Bonjour.

Hello.

Well.

We meet again.

Yes.

I feel as if I've been playing hooky again.

I have to say, looking back, that was truly brilliant.

I remember very fondly the illnesses you invented,

so you wouldn't have to go to school.

Like fecal-retromaninous-excretory disorder.

The internal lice?

Yes, the internal lice. I remember those well too.

Ms. Sternberg.

How are your parents?

My father found out that I'm not studying law.

And?

He says he always suspected as much

and that crappy law isn't good enough for me.

And my mother has triplicated herself using modern medicine.

-Triplicated? -Yes.

She's had twins implanted.

That's probably why she showed up at my place,

to make sure I'd function in her new, happy family.

-There was that court hearing. -Yes, I can see that in my documents.

Yes, I wasn't there. I haven't opened any letters for three months.

This is call 26. Give me a sign, Helene.

This is Mom. We have someone who wants to talk to you.

Helene, sweetie, I'll be out of rehab tomorrow.

I look ten years younger. I thought we could go on a bit of a bender.

Why?

It was a scientific experiment.

Yes. What happens if I cut myself off from all external influences?

-You know about Diogenes in his barrel? -Rings a bell, yes.

Well, what happened is that I ended up here in this cuckoo's nest.

-Cuckoo's nest? -Yes.

Correctional center.

What did you write down?

These are just my notes. They're not relevant.

Come on, tell me. Otherwise I won't tell you anything else.

-They're not important. -Go on.

-No. -Come on.

-No. -Please.

-No, I can't. -You can.

-No. -Yes.

No.

It became clear that my therapy wasn't going to be a stroll in the park...

Yes.

...for Berg-Berth.

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