"The Privilege": Teen Skulduggery at an Elite Private School, for the 385th Time

 

The Privilege: "a wealthy teen and his friends attending an elite private school uncover a dark conspiracy while looking into a series of strange supernatural events."  Somebody never took Creative Writing 101: use adjectives sparingly.  And isn't this the plot of , like, every teen soap ever?  But it's in German, and maybe there are some cute guys or interesting exteriors.

Scene 1: A wealthy house in Bavaria.  A young boy plays a video game and a teenage girl complains while their parents head out for another girl's dance recital.  They are careful to set the security system.  Why doesn't the whole family go?  I'd want my siblings at my dance recital.  A contrived reason to get the kids alone for a home invasion?

Scene 2: Sure enough, an ominous figure lurks outside.  The power goes out, all the doors in the house open, and the boy -- Finn -- hears sounds of a struggle from his sister's room. She emerges with a bloody knife, and insists on looking in Finn's mouth.  Satisfied that he's not -- he's not what?  -- she exclaims  "They're coming for us," and rushes Finn outside and into a car.  

This is actually interesting.  Were they aware of the beings before, or is this their first encounter?  Why did she want to look in his mouth?  

They drive to a bridge over a dam.  Sister encourages Finn to jump off with her, so they'll be safe. But he refuses, and she falls to her death.  

Scene 3: Emergency vehicles. Finn, catatonic, in a blanket in the back of an ambulance. Mom and Dad arrive.  Dad (Roman Knizka, left) kisses Finn right on the mouth, which I find disgusting, but I guess it's normative in Germany.  The bloody knife is still in Finn's hand -- rescue workers didn't retrieve it?  -- so Dad asks if Finn is bleeding.  Rescue workers wouldn't check for that?

They retrieve Sister's body, and lay it on the ground.  Not on a guerney, with a blanket over it?   Finn screams.

Switch to the teenage Finn screaming with wires attached to his head.  A lady attendant explains that the trauma resulted in significant brain damage.  Seeing your sister die can cause physical injury?   

She then claims that he invented the "mysterious pursuer" to avoid dealing with his guilt over Sister's death. So they think Finn killed her? Pushed her over the bridge?  This is getting a little ridiculous.

Finn gets a cardio test, too (nice chest, a bit skinny), and is asked about school.  Attendant: "You belong to a privileged generation."  Really?  I thought Generation Z was struggling to make ends meet.

 Mom arrives to pick Finn up.   We learn that he has a twin sister, no doubt the one off to the dance recital the night it happened. 

Scene 4: Finn and Twin head to school -- an ugly square box colored gray and pea-green.    Twin kisses her boyfriend -- extensively.  When Finn complains, Boyfriend jokingly offers to kiss him, too. 

Finn moves on to meet.  Ulp...the Girl of His Dreams turns in slow motion, her long hair blowing in the wind.  The most hackneyed, trite, over-done, nonsensical cliche on film, yet heterosexual directors are constantly shoving it down our throat.  

I'm out. 

I did a little research anyway.  The results are dreary.

1. Finn has no male friends.  He solves the mystery with the help of his bff, who is a lesbian, and the Girl of His Dreams.  IMDB didn't list any male characters other than his father and "police officer."  I had to go to the end credits to get the name of Sister's Boyfriend (Rojan Juan Barani) and the Girl of His Dreams' Obnoxious Boyfriend (Maurice  Lattke, left).

2. The lesbian bff is wholely concerned with helping Finn Win the Girl.  

3. This isn't a tv show.  It's a movie.  Go figure.