continuation
Uschi Glas and the ghost grandma in “Max and the Wild 7”
Best friends: Laura (Klara Nölle, lr), Max (Lucas Herzog), Vera (Uschi Glas) and Kilian (Günther Maria Halmer). photo
© Daniel Dornhöfer/Weltkino Filmverleih/dpa
The senior residence at Geroldseck Castle is haunted. But is there really a ghost grandma? That’s what Max wants to find out in the second part of the movie “Max and the Wild 7”.
Who says children and old people can’t get along? The films surrounding “Max and the Wild 7” prove the opposite. For the shy Max, the residents of the Burg Geroldseck retirement home are almost family. The former professor Kilian, the prominent ex-soccer coach Horst and the actress Vera are already past 70. But the group of pensioners, sometimes more and sometimes less sprightly, offers Max what he needs: good friends, fun and reliability.
After the first adventure of 2020, now comes the one Continuation. “The Ghost Grandma” is the name of the enjoyable family film starring Uschi Glas, Günther Maria Halmer and Thomas Thieme. The actor playing Max is new: Lucas Herzog has taken on the role instead of Jona Eisenblatt.
Help, a ghost
In the first part, Max came to the castle because his mother started working there as a carer. Together with Vera, Horst and Kilian, he solved the mystery of stolen valuables. Things get spooky in the sequel: Actress Vera is haunted by a ghost – or so she claims. At first Max thinks it’s his imagination – until he finally comes face to face with a ghost himself. With the help of Vera, Kilian and Horst and his classmate Laura, he wants to find out what’s behind it. A real apparition? Or just a normal person who plays nasty jokes?
Director Winfried Oelsner creates a tension that spreads horror without shocking the young audience too much. Eerie and funny scenes alternate. But ten-year-old Max still has completely different worries. His dream is to play on his school’s football team. This is not easy. The coach (Jakob Matschenz) and especially his classmate Ole (Giuseppe Bonvissuto) put him under pressure. Laura (Klara Nölle) can’t really decide. Does she stick by Max, even at the risk of getting in trouble with the coach and the rest of the team? And then there is the strict and somewhat capricious head nurse Cordula (Nina Petri), who doesn’t seem to understand any joke, at least at first glance.
“The old geezers”
The basis for the films, which were made in Hesse at Braunfels Castle and in Alzenau in the Spessart, Bavaria, among others, are the books by Oelsner and Lisa-Marie Dickreiter, of which there are three volumes. They also wrote the script – and created characters in it who are anything but perfect, but who have a likeable humanity and warmth of heart. And of course a lot of humor and the ability to laugh at yourself. How else can it be explained that Horst can field a team that calls itself “The Old Crackers”?
By the way, if you missed the first part in the cinema, you can catch up on TV: The first shows the film on Wednesday (May 1st) at 9:50 a.m. and from Monday (April 29th) in the ARD media library.
Max and the Wild 7: The Ghost Grandma, Germany 2024, 90 min., FSK from 6, by Max Oelsner, with Uschi Glas, Günther Maria Halmer, Nina Petri and Thomas Thieme