Two-to-One Review – Delightful, A Charming, Lighthearted, Dramatic Comedy

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Category: UK A&E, Lifestyle, Culture

Published on Thursday, 24 April 2025 12:22

Written by Janet Walker

Two-to-One, from Tull Stories, presents a madcap, entertaining, dramady, set in 1990 Socialist East Germany when three close friends hatch a plan to make a fortune after finding a bunker of soon-to-be-worthless currency.

The film begins in the summer of 1990. The Berlin Wall has fallen, and the reunification between East and West is in full swing, and suddenly those who lived in the east are unemployed, broke, and their money is worthless, and we find out the clock is ticking on declaring any East German savings and trading it in for new money.

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Today the meet Maren, played by Sandra Huller, her husband, Robert, played by Max Riemelt, and Kate played by Ursula Werner, along with Jannik, played by Anselm Haderer and her former husband, Volker, played by Ronald Zehrfeld.

We understand immediately that Volker left ten years ago to live in Hungary, and today when Maren sees him, we understand he told her fifteen minutes before he left. And as the reunification is upon them, he returned home to find his former wife married to his friend, Robert, and his daughter, who was just a baby, is now ten.

He and Robert are sitting outside, oversized military trucks are driving by, and Volker is curious. He convinces Robert to talk to his uncle Markowski, played by Peter Kurth, who works in the military bunker nearby to let them inside to see what is inside. So, once Markowski agrees, he explains, what ever you decide to do, I'm in. And he leads Maren, Volker and Robert into the deep caverns of the bunker and turns on the lights. Suddenly the three are staring at mountains of East German money and to hear Markowski explain, take all you want it is toilet paper. It has no value.

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So, the three fill up their bags, as if the money was as valued today as it was yesterday. Just the idea of being a millionaire had them all thinking, envisioning the possibilities, the intoxication of the piles of money conjured images of travel, villas, the life of luxury.

And just when they thought it would be play-money for their daughter's store, a door-to-door salesman arrives with a shiny new set of cookware, and he explains he takes East German or West German money, that the deadline to declare any monies for the citizen is in three days.

This sends them into a frenzy. With more than a million at home, and a bunker of cash that has been thrown away, they realize they can actually turn this windfall into something. So, as good people do they want everyone around them to prosper also. So, they gather up the neighbors and pitch the plan, they'll supply the money, everyone shops for the next three days, and then they will sell the merchandise in West Berlin for new money. It's a win, win.

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And until one of the never in circulation bills makes its way to the banking authorities. This ushers in the final act.

Two-to-One, a true story with some creative license, takes this shove it to the government theft film and turns it into a comical madcap caper, with the underdog winning, eventually.

The ensemble, which many audiences will not recognize by name but realize once they see the actors they are familiar with their work, and here they create an entertaining squeeze play, as they work out the past and hope for a better and brighter future. A comedic drama, the emotional range is straightforward with the actors portraying their feelings with authenticity.

Watching the film through the credits we see the truth explaining the large theft of old currency, and also the hardship and loss many East German suffered, though no fault of their own, during the reunification process.

A lighthearted, charming and entertaining dramady, Two-to-One, opens in UK and Irish cinema May 2, 2025. See it.

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Country: Germany.

Language: German with English subtitles.

Theatrical Release: 2nd May 2025.

Runtime: 116 minutes.

Directed By: Natja Brunckhorst.

Producer: Susanne Mann, Karsten Stoter.

Cast: Sandra Hüller, Max Riemelt, Ronald Zehrfeld, Ursula Werner, Peter Kurth, Martin Brambach, Kathrin Wehlisch.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is completing the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," which is expected to be released in early 2025. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.