Now at the movies: "Prank"

Filmmaker Benjamin Heisenberg does not allow himself to be pinned down when choosing his subjects: The political drama "Sleeper" was followed by the true crime thriller "The Robber", followed by the quirky comedy "Superegos". Now Heisenberg has made a children's film, and given his previous work, it's safe to assume it isn't entirely conventional. The focus of "Prank" is on 12-year-old Lucas (Noèl Gabriel Kipp) and his Chinese exchange student Xi Zhou (Max Zheng), who is so fascinated by the German custom of April Fool's Day that he concocts one himself - with turbulent consequences, as the boys suddenly find themselves in possession of a large wad of cash, destined for a gangster clan whose members are soon on the trail of the young "thieves"... Heisenberg stages this seemingly classic children's adventure as a tongue-in-cheek, anti-authoritarian rascal story - starting with the fact that Lucas and Charly skip school as a matter of course (and with impunity) during their adventure. But there are other things that are a little different in “The Prank”, from the characterization of the protagonists to the cast, which consists mainly of newcomers. Alongside Noèl Gabriel Kipp and Max Zheng (in his very first role), Maïmouna Rudolph-Mbacké is especially impressive as Lucas' secret crush, who proves to be more confident and tougher than the cocky, insecure boys.