Off Beat

Breathe, when it gets cold. It is November. Lukas (26) is more hovering than he is living. The dream of a breakthrough in the music world is gradually fading away; the golden days of his true love – of rap – are gone. He lives together with Mischa (46), his music producer, in an old factory building where they cultivate and manage a hemp plantation. For years they have engaged in a turbulent love affair, but no one is supposed to know.

Within him it is cold. Lukas senses his own self only during moments of excess. Coked up and drunk, he struggles through a concert in a small club. His brother Sämi (16), himself an ambitious rapper, is in the audience and ashamed for the embarrassing performance. Mischa is fed up with Lukas’ escapades and wants to integrate Sämi into the band. Lukas feels displaced, he refuses, and crashes once more. When he wakes up in the hospital and Mischa breaks up with him, he realizes that he has gone too far. Without money or a plan he withdraws and stays with his mother while Mischa builds his brother up to become his successor. Lukas is torn between jealousy and worry about his little brother. His own story seems to repeat itself. Trapped within his muted pain, Lukas increasingly becomes Sämi’s competitor. Should he challenge his brother and prove to Mischa that he can make it on his own?