It is a recurring image from the German drama series Love’s Child – currently a big hit on Netflix – that will stay with the viewer for a long time. Two small children who every now and then meekly hold out their hands and turn them over to show that they are clean. It is an automatism that has clearly been ingrained with a heavy hand. Even stranger: the mother of the pair also masters this routine. Her battered face shows that she has often been punished for not following the rules.
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It quickly becomes clear who is responsible for this: a large man who was only filmed from behind. He is the one who keeps these three captive in an inaccessible home. The mother has been kidnapped, the children have never seen the light of day in their lives.
Love’s Child initially appears to be a variation on the fate of the kidnapped Austrian Natasha Kampusch, who was held captive by a psychopath for eight years. Her ordeal has previously been filmed in the feature film 3096 Tage. The six-part miniseries is also a hostage drama, but the series gradually covers much more.
The makers, who based themselves on the book of the same name by Romy Hausmann, present a trio of people involved who saw their lives changed by the disappearance of a teenage girl more than thirteen years ago. The parents never came to terms with that kidnapping, nor did the detective who made them promises that he never kept.
The drama begins when the mother manages to escape with her daughter, is hit by a car in a wooded area and ends up in a hospital. But it soon turns out that she is not the disappeared woman, but that she uses her name for unclear reasons. Her daughter also looks exactly like what the disappeared woman looked like as a child.
Love’s Child more interesting with every episode. Mysterious events follow each other in rapid succession, but the prospect of a logical explanation seems far away. The viewer is repeatedly misled. One theory after another can be thrown in the trash.
Love’s Child is an addictive viewing game. The urge to watch all the episodes (50 minutes each) in one go is hard to resist. A good viewing schedule is therefore a requirement.
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