Salad Days (AT)

On his trial day, a young con artist fights to be accepted into his late father's old gang. At the side of his grey-haired mentor, he tries to stay in control in a maelstrom of masquerades and manipulation – but in a changing world, nothing is more dangerous than the illusion of control.

For ‘the new guy’ (mid-20s), it's a big day he's been eagerly awaiting for a long time: he wants to take over the legacy of his recently deceased father, a former big shot in a legendary gang of con artists. Their ageing leader Richard (70) gives the ambitious young man the chance to prove himself on a trial day. But what begins as a turning point in his criminal career quickly turns into an existential test. Together with his calm and taciturn mentor Jennifer (late 50s), the new guy drives around Frankfurt in an old Volvo, using cunning scams to relieve gullible victims of their gold, silver and other valuables. Dressed as police officers, they gain access to the villas of the rich and beautiful, posing as tradespeople, mourners or sales representatives, and even targeting the dementia patients of a nursing home on their raids. However, the newcomer fails not only because of his dogged ambitions, but also because of the gang's outdated methods. The otherwise unscrupulous ‘idealist’ adamantly rejects anonymous scams and newfangled deepfakes. But he is forced to realise that the traditional craft of con artistry, which he romanticises, is increasingly reaching its limits in the modern world. Richard relies on his young protégé to save the crisis-ridden syndicate – using increasingly brutal methods that ultimately turn against his older colleagues. When violence and chaos erupt, the legend of the father finally begins to crack – the newcomer's lifelong dream increasingly turns out to be a lie. In his search for belonging, he must ultimately decide which side he wants to be on in the new world, in a thicket of deception, manipulation and opaque networks. But he cannot do so without finding out who he really wants to be beneath all the masquerades.