Luna (4 Stars)

This political thriller isn't a true story, but it's based on similar cases that have become public in the last few years.

Luna is a 15-year-old girl from Munich. Her parents are strict, but she loves them very much, especially her father. She's a Daddy's Girl, but like all other teenage girls her main interests are boys and parties.

The family goes on holiday to a lakeside cabin. It's absolutely perfect. No people anywhere near and no Internet. Shortly after they arrive they're disturbed by three men with guns who speak Russian. They shoot Luna's parents and her younger sister, but Luna herself manages to escape. She hitches a lift to the next town and goes to the police. That's what anyone would do, but it turns out wrong. A police woman who's assigned to drive her home tries to kill her, and she's only saved by the intervention of a mysterious stranger called Hamid.

The things Hamid tells her reveal that she never really knew her father. He worked for the Russian secret service since before she was born. Recently he was uncovered by the German secret service, the BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst). He was threatened with arrest and deportation, but he promised to deliver secret information about the names and addresses of Russian agents in Germany. His fellow agents found out, and they came to kill him. They also want to kill Luna as the only living witness of the operation.

This is an exciting, fast-moving thriller, as good as anything that's made in America. Hamid and Luna have to run for their lives, and they can't trust anyone. As Luna has already found out, the Russian ssecret service has agents inside the police force. She can't trust the BND either. They're just as unscrupulous as the Russians. They'll only help Luna if she does something for them in return, i.e. she has to find the information her father had gathered. They're willing to let her die if she doesn't cooperate. Collateral damage, that's all she is.

As stated above, things like this really happen. Russia plants sleeper agents in Germany for its long term goals. They take on new identities and wait for orders. They get married and have children so that they look like normal Germans, and not even their families know their background. It's all part of an elaborate international game. Luna is shocked to find out that if her father's murderer is caught he won't get a long jail sentence. He'll be given a pro forma trial, but at the first opportunity he'll be exchanged for German agents who have been imprisoned in Russia.

This film has only been released in Germany, without subtitles, but if you can understand the language it's worth watching.