Can the film do justice to its successful book template?
Does it need a film adaptation of a German bestseller debut novel about the everyday and tragic life of a young woman in the small town? The answer is yes! And with 102 minutes of pure emotions that can almost completely avoid kitsch. This is exactly what director Mia Maariel Meyer (“Die Saat”) creates with the film adaptation of the novel “22 Rails” by Caroline Wahl.
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The author’s debut in 2023 became a crowd favorite in no time and catapulted up on number 1 on the “Spiegel” bestseller list a year later. The fact that a movie would later also result from such a German mega success was almost as safe as the amen in the church. The result can now be admired on the cinema screens of Germany from September 4. Here the verb “marvel at” is by no means chosen by chance – “22 lanes” is a film that cannot do any other way than to be amazed. Which cannot be asserted by many major German productions.
Between everyday life and tragedy: What is “22 lanes” about?
“22 Rails” tells the story of Tilda (Luna Wedler), her little sister Ida (Zoë Baier) and her alcoholic mother Andrea (Laura Tonke). Tilda lives a strictly pounded everyday life: In addition to her math studies, she works at the cash register of a supermarket and takes care of Ida, with which she regularly goes to the local outdoor pool and pulls her 22 tracks. 22 lanes that she only has for herself. 22 lanes. Because as much everyday life is also in Tilda’s life, a moment to breathe is usually rarely granted her. Last but not least, that is due to her mother, who is just an alcoholic and her life, without realizing it, complains to the immeasurable one. So it was and is Tilda who raises her sister.
The three live together in an apartment without a father figure. But most of the time are really only Tilda and Ida. Andrea is more part of the facility than part of her daughters’ life. But Tilda’s still sorted life threatens to get out of joint when she not only gets a doctoral center in Berlin, but also gets to know Viktor (Jannis Niewöhner). And that of all people at their holy place of calm – in the swimming pool. From that moment she is faced with her past, while at the same time she has to make future decisions in which she would leave her beloved sister alone in the small town.
Can the film adapt to the bestseller of Caroline Wahl?
Mia Maariel Meyer and screenwriter Elena Hell (“Sisi”) create something with “22 lanes” that most book lovers can only dream of inside. Not only do they manage to feel the characters and places one -to -one from the book. The feeling that extends over the entire length of the novel also swings with the entire playing time of the film adaptation. Not only the well -thought -out camera settings, the authentic scene and the special recordings in their simplicity play an important role.
Luna Wedler in particular ensures that “22 lanes” becomes the film that he is. Many German films are doomed to keep using the same actor: inside, the same dialogues in the same settings. The Swiss actress plays the cool, orderly, yet torn role of Tilda with ease and a matter of course that even kitschy dialogues of her clichés are first released. Wedler creates a mood with her game in conversations and in quiet, word-empty moments with her love interest Viktor Viktor, which appears tangible through the cinema screen. At these moments it is also secondary that Jannis Niewöhner puts a comparatively expressionless appearance. And still: The chemistry between Tilda and Viktor in the interaction of the two performers: Inside is undeniable – and in such a subliminal way that it is hard to play more organ.
Active performance: Luna Wedler convinces as Tilda
But not only the beautiful, free and light emotions embodied Luna Wedler. Even the repeatedly occurring arguments with her mother produces her with a strength that you can put yourself in Tilda’s feelings in a few seconds – or even be forced to do so. Wedler, however, has more than owe this to Laura Tonke, who plays the role of the alcoholic mother with an impressive clarity and honesty, so that it does not need many scenes to understand the seriousness of the disease.
And then there would be Tilda’s relationship with her little sister Ida, who is actually the core of the entire story. Here, too, the film by Mia Maariel Meyer convinces, because the proximity of the two sisters and the dynamics that result from it seem so real and raw that the two actresses would be relieved of an actual family relationship.
Soundtrack and staging: How the “22 Rails” film adaptation emotions reinforced
Here and there, “22 lanes” threatens to slip into the category of 08/15 German films, which is due to the conditions of the novel, among other things. Because in its origin, too, this could never be free of a few emotional and partially predictable moments. But shortly before the idea could germinate that the film was like any other drama of German feather, the direction of Mia Maariel Meyer – and above all the soundtrack and sound design – ensures a unique atmosphere. Dascha Dauenhauer (“No animal. So wild”) gives the already impressive pictures with their music selection a completely new feeling that enables goose bumps more than once. Be it with impressive rave tracks or with emotionally charged indie contributions-Dauenhauer again gives the pictures of the film a grade of their own grade, which captures the moments in a special way.
Conclusion: “22 Lahnen” as a successful film adaptation for book and film fans
For fans of the book, the novel adaptation is a complete success: the plot is based on the book, the scene is so calculated that it can do justice to the ideas of the readers: the acting performance of Luna Wedler makes the character Tilda incredibly tangible and the interaction with its fellow players rounds off this drama. But the film also offers great potential for everyone who was neither “22 lanes” nor Caroline Wahl. Not least because he deals with her past in addition to the present and future of Tilda and assembles the puzzle ropes of a great secret in returns. The film could certainly be accused of being like any other German production that makes it onto the big screen. From September 4, the fact that this ultimately does not correspond to the truth can be seen in Germany’s cinemas.