Antikörper (Antibodies) (2005)

One of the FBI's founding profilers, Robert Ressler, titled his semi-autobiography Whoever Fights Monsters, quoting Friedrich Nietszche: "Whoever fights monsters should take care that he doesn't become one himself."

That's the thought that drives Michael Martens (Wotan Wilke Möhring), a rural police chief who carries tremendous guilt over his inability to solve the town's biggest case: the horrific murder of young Lucia Flieder. Martens keeps Lucia's crucifix as a reminder of the now-cold case's lingering injustice—and his failure to bring her killer to justice, something the townsfolk haven't forgotten, either. In particular, it's Martens's father-in-law who continually belittles Martens for his failures as a cop and a husband to Rosa (Ulrike Krumbiegel). With grave doubts about his own investigative abilities, Officer Martens is called in to talk to the recently arrested Gabriel Engel (André Hennicke, in a taut performance). Engel, initially eager to share his depraved series of child murders with arresting officers, has clammed up, leaving the urban police anxious to get more information out of him. Knowing Martens has a possible case linked to Engel, hard-edged Det. Wosniak (Konstantin Graudus) brings the fragile cop in on the case, which prompts Engel to start talking again immediately. But what is he really up to? The cat-and-mouse game uncovers the troubled conscience of Martens, whose list of suspects seems to narrow and expand at every turn. Ultimately, he's led down a very dark path that leads very close to home, learning how to navigate the corruption around and within himself as he follows leads.

Antibodies is indeed reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs, but is to my mind a superior film, thanks largely to the performances of Hennicke and Möhring. The teetering dynamic between degenerate serial killer and vulnerable investigator is expertly blended into the narrative's heart. Great supporting cast and excellent music further enhance this very tense experience.

Christian Alvart's strict religious upbringing kept him out of movie theaters as a boy growing up. Oddly, that may have benefited him as a filmmaker: He has a keen sense of story and character, one that belies his relative youth. Here he's delivered a top-notch suspense film that, while utterly unflinching in looking at brutal crimes and the dark, dark soul responsible for them, is as unyielding in considering what that says about what is in us all. Which is not a pretty picture. But this is an outstanding movie.