Before We Grow Old
Summer in Berlin. Three twenty-somethings include two Berliners, Maria and Niels, and one student from the United Kingdom, Chlo. As they drift libidinously across Berlin, they plunge headfirst into a careless and disorderly love affair. Living life to the fullest, they seize anything and anything they desire. Their only apparent guide appears to be the pleasure they feel together, which serves them well until Chlo unexpectedly becomes pregnant. Now, insecurity and rage, envy and distrust emerge. A planned abortion is abandoned. Who is permitted to speak, when, and about what? Their odd trio disintegrates, and their once-balanced connection mutates into shifting constellations of two, until it appears for a moment that it might be possible to restore a fragile equilibrium. Is paradise attainable, or is this merely the calm before the storm? To love differently requires effort. Maria, Niels, and Chlo will be a shock to the world. Neither are they, either.