Together with his removals team, furniture mover Walter, an aging former wrestler, has to evict tenants from an apartment. When the old building’s door opens, he thinks he recognises the young father there as the son he abandoned years ago. He undertakes a cautious rapprochement and, with it, a far-reaching attempt to rescue the young family from danger.

60-year-old Walter works as a furniture removals man during evictions. He’s the most loyal hauler Walter’s boss Roland Grone has in his removals team. Walter ignores the pain that this back-breaking job causes him, as well as the suffering of the people whose privacy he invades on a daily basis. With the help of the Afsaris, a shady family clan, Grone plans a risky real estate deal. Walter’s friend Alfred, a bailiff, knows how this works: the Afsaris, to whom new colleague Moussa belongs, give Grone their money, and he buys cheap houses, clearing tenants out - even by force - in order to sell them at substantially higher prices, thus helping the Afsaris launder dirty money. But one final tenant refuses to move out. Walter thinks he recognises this young father as the son he abandoned decades earlier whom he’s since never seen. Without revealing his identity, Walter cautiously approaches Jan and his family. As he realises how unpredictable the men are with whom Grone has got involved, Walter comes under increasing pressure. When, in an argument with Moussa, he impulsively kills him, then disposes of his corpse, he finds his family turning against him more quickly than expected.

Awards, Press, Comments:

The film received its world premiere at the Hof International Film Festival in 2018. At the Turin 2018 Film Festival, THE MOVER won the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Award and Rainer Bock the Best Actor Award ex aequo. THE MOVER was previously a recipient of the 2015 Emder Screenplay Award.

“The debut film from David Nawrath, who wrote the screenplay with Paul Salisbury, is astutely constructed dramaturgically and technically well executed. The film generates a significant emotional impact while taking a close look at a rarely depicted environment. The symbolic image of the "Atlas" is introduced right at the start, with Walter tying a cupboard to his back, then laboriously descending the stairs – he’s carrying the weight of the world. The film, which evolves from drama to thriller, says much with images and glances. Nothing happens without reason, so no twist seems engineered. The characters, not least the supporting actors, are superlatively cast, above all Rainer Bock as Walter and Thorsten Merten as the ambivalent figure of the bailiff. Camera, sets, editing, sound and music harmonize excellently with one another other in a male drama well worth seeing.”
(From the FBW (German Film Rating Commission)‘s ‘Especially Worthwhile’ expert opinion)

“For the fabulous Rainer Bock, it's perhaps the role of a lifetime, and David Nawrath's debut plays fully off all the strengths a funded film can have: a coherent story, an intense atmosphere, an excellent cast.”
(Die Welt)

“With his debut feature film, David Nawrath captivatingly succeeds in the apparent contradiction of examining an inscrutable character in detail: a man with a hidden past gets the chance to be a "decent person" - by doing something evil. Walter may seem taciturn to the point of muteness, but Rainer Bock, who, with his face like a map, lends him a lonely grandeur, celebrates a silence that rings in the ears.”
(Frankenpost)

“At times, the film comes across a little too mystified. Walter's stoicism, for example, doesn't seem of this world, and nor is his resistance to worldly pain, and injuries that would wipe out any ordinary mortal, credible. Less would sometimes have been more, as with the character of Moussa (Roman Kanonik), who’s forced to serve as an exaggerated, one-dimensional antagonist. Nevertheless, as a symbolic account of the “little man” and the virulent difficulties of renting, “THE MOVER” is original. Moreover, Nawrath boasts in Rainer Bock an actor who - and this metaphor must by now be straight-forward – effortlessly carries the film on his shoulders.”
(epd Film)

Production Country

Germany (DE)

Production Period

2017

Production Year

2017

Aspect Ratio

1:1,85

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Thriller, Drama

Topic

Violence, Relationship / Family

Scope of Rights

Nichtexklusive nichtkommerzielle öffentliche Aufführung (nonexclusive, noncommercial public screening),Keine TV-Rechte (no TV rights)

Licence Period

28.02.2026

Permanently Restricted Areas

Germany (DE), Austria (AT), Switzerland (CH)

Available Media

DCP, Blu-ray Disc, DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DCP

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt), Thai (th)

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt), Thai (th)

DVD

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar), Lithuanian (lt), Thai (th)

• Atlas
• David Nawrath