Ich verstehe Ihren Unmut
Director: Kilian Armando Friedrich
Writer: Kilian Armando Friedrich, Daniel Kunz, Tünde Sautier
Cast: Sabine Thalau, Sadibou Diabang, Nada Kosturin, Werner Posselt, Thomas Sprekelsen, Nigyar Velagich
Seen on: 29.5.2026

Plot:
Heike (Sabine Thalau) works as an object manager in cleaning company. Her job is to keep the cleaners in line, to deal with client complaints and to make the head of the cleaning company happy, too. She has been doing it for a while and has settled into a grueling rhythm. But when a subcontractor of her company threatens to become competition instead and Heike’s own position is threatened that rhythm starts to falter.

Ich verstehe Ihren Unmut is a feature debut with a documentary style that sheds light on a work sector that is often taken for granted and little talked about. I found it very interesting, although the ending was a little too open for my taste.

Sabine Thalau, who plays the protagonist, actually worked as an object manager herself – the role she plays here is her first acting experience. From what I gather, most of the actors in the film are real-life cleaners, and the film was shot on real locations, too. This gives the film an extra sense of realism.

And what kind of a reality it is: long hours, unhappy customers, always playing the bad guy with your colleagues, all for very little pay. So little, in fact, that Heike tries a bit of a side hustle, too. At home, things aren’t much easier for Heike, either, with her ex-husband living with her because he can’t afford anything else, and his mental health doesn’t allow him to work. But that doesn’t keep the officials from checking and re-checking whether they really are separated – because if they aren’t, he isn’t entitled to any benefits.

It’s high pressure to say the least – and at some point, something has got to give. And it does. It is at this point that the film, maybe, leaves behind realism a little to offer an optimistic view of Heike’s possibilities (not too optimistic, we aren’t suddenly in dreamland). While I really liked that approach to the ending, I felt that the film left it too vague, leaving Heike just before anything becomes concrete. That bothered me.

But other than that, I have few complaints about the film that provides a good and realistic look at marginalized people and tries to imagine ways that they could do better, maybe. But mostly it wants to show people that aren’t involved in that job what is going on behind the scenes. As one of those people, I really appreciated that.

Summarizing: very good.