Narcotics investigator Herbert Strähl is engaging in a fierce and seemingly hopeless battle against the drug scene on Langstrasse in Zurich. Carol is a wild young drug addict. Strähl's problems really begin when he falls in love with her. In his attempt to get Carol out of her disastrous environment, he increasingly finds himself in danger of falling into a vortex of dependence and violence.
Acting
Wiesnekker's sweaty desperation is genuinely uncomfortable.
Direction
Hendry keeps Zurich's underbelly authentically unglamorous.
Editing
Tight 83 minutes that refuses to let you breathe.
Director
Manuel Flurin Hendry
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Langstrasse was Zurich's actual notorious red-light district; the film's documentary realism comes from shooting in active locations with minimal permits.
Hendry deliberately avoided showing drug use as seductive—every hit looks miserable, which makes Strähl's downward spiral even more inexplicable and tragic.
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