Life Guidance

fiction / 2017 / Austria / col. / 101 min.

Director: Ruth Mader
Screenplay: Ruth Mader, Martin Leidenfrost
Photography: Christine A. Maier
Editor: Niki Mossböck
Music: Manfred Plessl
Cast: Fritz Karl, Katharina Lorenz, Florian Teichtmeister, Petra Morzé, Nicolas Jarosch, Kristina Bangert, Peter Vilnai, Peter Knaack, Martin Zauner, Rainer Egger

A near-future world of perfect capitalism: a highly performing class keeps the society running. Friendly and motivated people work in a perfectly effective, transparent and positive-minded world, while the so-called “minimal recipients” are held in suspended animation in sleeping forts. The majority of highly efficient humans feel happy and fulfilled. If they don’t, the Life Guidance Agency is there as backup, with its main role being to transform such individuals into optimal humans. One of the participants is named Alexander. One wrong sentence to his child is enough to activate Life Guidance. Once Alexander begins to resist, we slowly learn about the horrors associated with this seemingly well-arranged and friendly system. (source: Das Filmfest)