System Crasher

Systemsprenger

Nora Fingscheidt, Germany, 2019

121 mins

8.4 / 10 (1553)

Drama

Synopsis

Wherever 9-year-old Benni ends up, she is expelled. She has become what child protection services call a “system crasher.” But she is not looking to change her ways, and has one goal: go back home to her mother. When anger management trainer Micha is hired to help, suddenly there is hope.

MUBI's take

Few films provoke a gripping feeling deep in one’s guts… System Crasher is such a film, a visceral look at childhood—with a spectacular, rage-fuelled performance by Helena Zengel—jumping between feral violence and heart-rending empathy as we witness the limitations of love, and protection systems.