Only God Can Judge Me (2017) User Reviews

Guns, robberies and 25 kilos of heroin in today's Frankfurt.

[DimitrisPassas-TapTheLine · 8/10 · 11 August 2019]

This is a fabulous German production, shot in Frankfurt, with a plot that entails the underground people of drug trafficking, two brothers who were in prison for a botched robbery that resulted in the serious injury of two people, and a young female police officer, being in a desperate need for money in order to help her sick daughter.

Moritz Bleibtreu, one of the best contemporary German thespians, plays the role of Ricky, a young man who is totally immersed in the outlaw lifestyle and Edin Hasanovic is his brother, Rafa who, even though he takes part in his brother's shady dealings and endeavors, has a good heart and is gonna soon be a father to a baby. When the two siblings are stopped by the police with their car full of 25 kilos of stolen heroin, they will have to leave the drugs behind and Diana (Birgit Minichmayr) will seize the opportunity to make some easy money by selling the stuff to local dealers.

I will not reveal anything more about the plot as it takes some nasty twists and turns that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat, as the level of suspense is held in high standards throughout the movie's running time. The director, Özgür Yildirim , does a remarkable job in handling the camera in the action scenes which are all wonderfully captured. The performances by the three protagonists are outstanding, proving that Germany is not dead as far as the production of quality silver screen movies is concerned. In a way, the movie reminded me the "Ardennes" (2015), a Belgian crime film, also featuring two delinquent brothers as protagonists. The family drama is intense in "Only God Can Judge Me" too and the finale is both strong and sad for the main characters.

If you are a fan of Euro-Crime films, you should check this one out and you are bound to be thoroughly entertained.

Needs a while to get going, but eventually a solid crime thriller

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 5 March 2019]

"Nur Gott kann mich richten" or "Only God Can Judge Me" is a German 100-minute movie that premiered back in 2017 and got a wide release very early in 2018, so it is a bit over a year old now. The writer and director is Özgür Yildirim and I think I have seen pretty much all his other stuff in terms of full feature movie and with the exception of one I liked them all. So I was a bit curious about this one, also because the cast is not too shabby: Bleibtreu, Hasanovic, Kodr Ramadan, Minichmayr, Lara and Simonischek only to mention a few. The latter is of course known because of Toni Erdmann now, but his screen time in this film we have here is very limited. A bit of a pity. Same applies to Lara, but that is okay because I am more a fan of her looks than her acting. The other ones I mentioned have a lot of screen time. This is the story of a man who comes out of jail and while planning initially to not commit any further crimes, he is convinced by his buddy and former partner to take part in a seemingly sefe and riskless heroin deal. Well, it did not turn out that safe overall. But watch for yourself. The film admittedly needs a while to get going. i thought the first half was mediocre at best, but the second half is genuinely entertaining, even if not too realistic in its entirety, but I have a fun time watching, so I will forgive them that. I won't mention any specific scenes or examples though as probably you will have a completely different perception of what feels realistic and what doesn't. Early on I struggled a bit with the role of the police I must say, for example Minichmayr's character not shooting the young man when he escapes over the fence after seriously injuring her partner. Oh well, she clearly struggled with shooting somebody, perhaps not the best job she is in then. But her desperate situation with her daughter suffering from a cardiac disease and being in need of a donor organ makes it necessary for her to enter the world of organized crime and try to sell the heroine herself in order to make sure her child gets what it needs in order to survive. But will the girl really survive? In contrast to my previous criticism, I think it was a pretty bold film in the second half and they weren't scared at all to depict gun violence, also graphically, and let me say that not many people make it out alive of this film. One of them is Minichmayr who takes a lot of punches and all kinds of violence, but is gritty enough to survive several life-threatening situations. The best example is the scene at the club where the two guys play billard and her linguistic talent helps her there for sure. Or hurts her? That's up to you to decide. The ending is slightly happy, but for a film like this a really happy ending would feel very unrealistic. It was okay I would say with the letter full of money that showed really how much Bleibtreu's character really cared for Hasanovic's. He could have takent he money for himself too and made himself a new life and start. But he didn't As for Hasanovic's character, he clearly has principles as we find out in the scene when he is the only one who strongly objects against killing Minichmayr's character. And also meets early with her to save her life. And lets also keep in mind that Hasanovic's and Bleibtreu's characters act from pure desperation because the money they owe puts their own lives at risk. They may be criminals and bad guys too to some extent, but not the most evil characters in this movie for sure. Bleibtreu is always fun to watch if he has the right character, even if he admittedly does not have the greatest range, but he makes up for that with his charisma I suppose. And Minichmayr is very talented there is no denying. I remember not being a fan of her early in her career, but she totally won me over and the reason is performances like this one here. She is almost too good for the character and certainly the heart and soul of the film. Overall, a good crime film in my opinion that eventually turns into a no-hold-barred revenge thriller. Go see it.

And the reviewers can too

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 17 March 2021]

So it will be up to us to give this the thumbs up or down treatment. As you can see clearly I'm giving this two thumbs up. And while I'm not comparing it directly too, I personally felt this could be a companion piece to a 90s movie called "Kurz und Schmerzlos" by Fatih Akin.

There are certain elements that you can compare I reckon - like three male main characters. The fact that there is criminal lifestyles involved ... but there are also quite a few things that are different. Way different. Still I really like both movies and this has the great Moritz Bleibtreu in it. He can walk that thin line between raging mad, but also likeable and reletable ... you do root for him - maybe not all the time, but you can dig what he tries to do and where his intentions lie. You can also understand everyone elses motivation ... even when they clash with each other ... very well done! A genre piece with great acting and a really strong, grim, dark and gritty story ...

Excellent crime film from Germany

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 16 May 2021]

What a terrific surprise this one, in the same DNA as 4 BLOCKS series. Brutal, poignant, gritty, with no good lead character. The only god character is only a supporting one, the female cop. The final shootout in the bar reminded me STATE OF GRACE, back in 1991, starring Sean Penn. Characters are above the usual level, there was no miscast here. I recommand it.