Director Daniel Geronimo Prochaska directed the sequel to the high-quality drama series “The Power of Injury”, in which six stories are built up: David died far too early, the sadness and horror at the injustice of fate are great. When a letter from the dead man is read out at the funeral service, in which he addresses his relatives, they are suddenly confronted with a reckoning. According to David, he realized too late that everything a person does or doesn’t do has an impact on others. David’s words ignite simmering conflicts. As the hurt he has sown spreads like a contagious virus and people begin to accuse each other, a second narrative level goes back into the past. Dramatic experiences and insults in David’s life are highlighted, from his youth until shortly before his death. From the perspective of his sister, his best friend, his mother, his wife and his son, the wounds that insults leave behind are shown. And so, like pieces of a puzzle, a picture emerges not only of the deceased, but also of all the other protagonists – a series of insults.
ORF 1 will show the six episodes in triple episodes on Thursday, October 31st, and Friday, November 1st, 2024, from 8:15 p.m. All six episodes have been available to stream on ORF ON since Friday, October 25th.
The roles in the present and in the past are each played by two actresses or actors – the main cast includes Golo Euler and Philip Froissant as David, Antonia Bill and Lilia Herrmann as Mirjam, Mohamed Achour and Rojan Juan Barani as Roko, Barbara Auer and Henriette Richter-Röhl as Rosa, Angelina Häntsch and Luise Hart as Julia and Léon Orlandianyi as Leon. Michael Pink / Nils Hohenhövel (Sascha), Thomas Thieme / Shenja Lacher (Josef), Narges Rashidi / Gizem Emre (Aischa), Emilie Neumeister, Jutta Fastian, Clemens Berndorff, Margarethe Tiesel, Harald Windisch, Sabrina Reiter and many more were also in front of the Camera. The scripts come from Agnes Pluch, Marie-Therese Thill and Rebekka Reuber.
More about the content of the six episodes:
Episode 1: David (Thursday, October 31st, 8:15 p.m., ORF 1)
David (Golo Euler/Philip Froissant) died far too early. At his funeral service he has a letter read out that amounts to an accusation. This causes old wounds to open up and what has long been repressed comes to light. Family and friends had expected conciliatory words, but the accusations, like an accelerant, ignited simmering conflicts. What motivated David to write such a letter shortly before his death? David is initially happy about the appearance of Sascha (Michael Pink/Nils Hohenhövel), his former best friend from childhood. But he still seems to have a score to settle with him. The hurt that David turned away from him runs deep. When Sascha confronts him with a secret, David has to realize the answer to a question that he didn’t want to admit for far too long.
Episode 2: Mirjam (Thursday, October 31st, 9 p.m., ORF 1)
David’s letter comes as a shock to those closest to him. His younger sister Mirjam (Antonia Bill/Lilia Herrmann) finally wants to tell the truth at the funeral. She can no longer stand the fact that the cloak of silence has too often been placed over everything in her family. But then she remembers events from her youth. Has her unconditional love of truth destroyed more than she wants to admit? Her older brother David was always the bright Sunday kid who was supposed to take over their parents’ company, while she was a rebellious teenager who wasn’t expected to do anything. David wants to study architecture with his best friend Sascha, but doesn’t tell his parents about it. Mirjam can just tolerate that, but when David stabs Sascha, with whom she is also in love, in the back, she can’t let it go. The situation escalates and Mirjam learns the hard lesson that speaking the truth is not rewarded in her family. Even at the funeral there is a lot left unsaid between Mirjam, her parents and her sister-in-law. Above all, the absence of Leon (Léon Orlandianyi), David and Julia’s son, overshadows everything. Mirjam is happy that Sascha is also at the funeral. But for some people his presence causes horror.
Episode 3: Roko (Thursday, October 31st, 9:50 p.m., ORF 1)
Roko (Mohamed Achour/Rojan Juan Barani) is David’s best friend since his student days and delivers the eulogy. But after reading the letter he also has to question his friendship with David: Did he betray him then and now? Julia (Angelina Häntsch/Luise Hart), David’s wife, fuels his guilty conscience because he stopped visiting David shortly before his death. Was he a bad and disloyal friend who betrayed David? Roko thinks back to the time when he, David and his girlfriend Aischa (Narges Rashidi/Gizem Emre) studied architecture together and lived in a shared apartment. The trio does almost everything together, with Roko being the one who mediates the passionate couple’s many conflicts. He is also in love with the charismatic but mentally unstable Aischa. But David can look past that; he sees no threat in the introverted Roko. Only when Aischa and Roko achieve academic success that David was denied does the balance begin to tip. When Roko then gets the respect from David’s father Josef (Thomas Thieme/Shenja Lacher), which his son so desperately desires, the pent-up conflicts between the three escalate. Aischa follows up her angry words with action.
Episode 4: Rosa (Friday, November 1st, 8:15 p.m., ORF 1)
Her son’s funeral is the worst day of Rosa’s (Barbara Auer/Henriette Richter-Röhl) life. As always, she tries to keep up the facade, but the cracks in it are growing. Rosa has been hiding her pain all her life. For them, the illusion of an ideal world is more important than anything else. When her husband’s former lover shows up at the funeral service, her pent-up anger is released. Suddenly the painful memories of their 35th wedding anniversary are back. By chance, Rosa finds out that Josef’s lover Magda (Jutta Fastian) is pregnant by him. Until then, she had always discreetly ignored her husband’s affairs, but now she has to act. The rivalry between the two women comes to an unexpected end, and Rosa’s simmering anger ends up not affecting Josef, but David. Through this memory, Rosa realizes how unfairly she has treated Mirjam all these years. She’s finally ready to really listen and learn the truth about the absence of David’s son Leon.
Episode 5: Julia (Friday, November 1st, 9 p.m., ORF 1)
David’s wife Julia is deeply affected by his death. His letter and the events of the funeral threaten to reveal a well-kept secret. Julia is in an emotional state of emergency and painfully repressed memories are awakened in her. When Aischa, David’s ex-girlfriend, shows up at the funeral service, Julia loses control.
From the beginning of her relationship with David, Aischa has been a red flag for Julia. She feels inferior to the charismatic architect and fears that David might still love her. Julia and David want to have a child early on in their relationship, but it doesn’t work out. Their relationship is extremely tense. Also because his hoped-for career as an architect doesn’t materialize and Julia urges him to join his father’s company. But he doesn’t want to withdraw under any circumstances. When Aisha comes back into David’s life, a heated argument breaks out between the couple. Deeply hurt, Julia storms away. She never told her husband what happened that night. But David also keeps a big secret.
Episode 6: Leon (Friday, November 1st, 9:45 p.m., ORF 1)
Leon, David and Julia’s son, is not at his father’s funeral. His absence raises questions. His mother knows why, but fears the truth. For good reason, Leon has broken off contact with his family and cannot be found by them during his year abroad in Panama. His pain is too deep. Now he has to decide whether he wants to break the cycle of hurt. His mother Julia has so far justified his absence by citing illness. In reality, Leon cut all communication lines before going to Central America for a year. No cell phone, no email contact. But now he stands exhausted and indecisive at the train station. A few days ago he read his emails for the first time and found out about his father’s illness and death. He remembers the day before his departure, when the sentence was said that changed his entire life. Anger, guilt and sadness alternate in Leon until he finds himself in an extreme situation: a car accident in which he may be able to save a life.
“The Power of Injury 2” is a production by Mona Film and Tivoli Film in co-production with ZDF and ORF, supported by TV Fund Austria and Film Fund Vienna