"Natalie - Die Hölle nach dem Babystrich" is a German movie from 1997, so this one has its 20th anniversary this year. It once again stars Anne-Sophie Briest as the title character. In the first film, she got into a web of prostitution involving very young girls, but was saved right on time and here in this slightly over 90 minute film, we witness the aftermath. But of course a lot happens that justifies this movie right? Well, I am not sure about that. But hey, after all this is only the second of five(!!!) films about Natalie and this may be too much. Anyway, back to the film we have here. Main conflict is not only about the past, but also about other girls who may get sucked into the abyss of the Babystrich and on occasion there is even one that wonders if she still could get in there despite her age. So yeah, this film is definitely trying really hard to shock people. Violence is one aspect there. More focus is on the relationship between Natalie and her father and how the Babystrich time may have had a lasting impact on family life that could even result in destruction. Sadly, while it is not true that the entire film is a failure, there are some cringeworthy scenes in this small screen production. One would be a naked teenage boy running out of a house and screaming that he is the only one that loves Natalie. Still at times I must say that it almost felt as if Natalie was not the center of attention anymore, even if the title wants us to believe otherwise. Far more issues were dealt with and some did not really include her. Sadly almost none of these were dealt with convincingly and if we are honest here, the acting by almost everybody involved is not good. There was not really a need to make this film, but I guess the first (and maybe this one too) brought good rating and that's all that counts. The (sometimes not so) subtle approach to teenage sexuality certainly lured many lewd men in front of the screens I guess. As for the two writers here (Charlott and Manfred Grunert), it was Grunert's last work from a prolific career and Charlott, maybe his daughter(?), never worked on another film before or after this one. Possibly a good decision. Director is Heidi Kranz and looking at some of the other television work she was in charge of (actually until this day), it is not really surprising what the outcome here is, even if the script is probably worse than the direction. I give the second Natalie movie a thumbs-down. Don't watch. By American standards you can maybe call this the German equivalent of a really sub-par Lifetime movie.
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