Only God can judge me

What a terrific surprise this one, in the same DNA as 4 BLOCKS series. Brutal, poignant, gritty, with no good lead character. The only god character is only a supporting one, the female cop. The final shootout in the bar reminded me STATE OF GRACE, back in 1991, starring Sean Penn. Characters are above the usual level, there was no miscast here. I recommand it.

This is a fabulous German production, shot in Frankfurt, with a plot that entails the underground people of drug trafficking, two brothers who were in prison for a botched robbery that resulted in the serious injury of two people, and a young female police officer, being in a desperate need for money in order to help her sick daughter.

Moritz Bleibtreu, one of the best contemporary German thespians, plays the role of Ricky, a young man who is totally immersed in the outlaw lifestyle and Edin Hasanovic is his brother, Rafa who, even though he takes part in his brother's shady dealings and endeavors, has a good heart and is gonna soon be a father to a baby. When the two siblings are stopped by the police with their car full of 25 kilos of stolen heroin, they will have to leave the drugs behind and Diana (Birgit Minichmayr) will seize the opportunity to make some easy money by selling the stuff to local dealers.

I will not reveal anything more about the plot as it takes some nasty twists and turns that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat, as the level of suspense is held in high standards throughout the movie's running time. The director, Özgür Yildirim , does a remarkable job in handling the camera in the action scenes which are all wonderfully captured. The performances by the three protagonists are outstanding, proving that Germany is not dead as far as the production of quality silver screen movies is concerned. In a way, the movie reminded me the "Ardennes" (2015), a Belgian crime film, also featuring two delinquent brothers as protagonists. The family drama is intense in "Only God Can Judge Me" too and the finale is both strong and sad for the main characters.

If you are a fan of Euro-Crime films, you should check this one out and you are bound to be thoroughly entertained.

So it will be up to us to give this the thumbs up or down treatment. As you can see clearly I'm giving this two thumbs up. And while I'm not comparing it directly too, I personally felt this could be a companion piece to a 90s movie called "Kurz und Schmerzlos" by Fatih Akin.

There are certain elements that you can compare I reckon - like three male main characters. The fact that there is criminal lifestyles involved ... but there are also quite a few things that are different. Way different. Still I really like both movies and this has the great Moritz Bleibtreu in it. He can walk that thin line between raging mad, but also likeable and reletable ... you do root for him - maybe not all the time, but you can dig what he tries to do and where his intentions lie. You can also understand everyone elses motivation ... even when they clash with each other ... very well done! A genre piece with great acting and a really strong, grim, dark and gritty story ...