I Understand Your Displeasure

DCP / Color / 93’
German, Croatian, Bosnian, Turkish; with Turkish and English Subtitles
Germany, 2026

Director: Kilian Armando Friedrich
Screenplay: Kilian Armando Friedrich
Cinematography: Louis Dickhaut, Frederik Seeberger
Editing: Leila Fatima Keita, Kilian Armando Friedrich
Cast: Sabine Thalau, Nada Kosturin, Werner Posselt, Sadibou Diabang, Nigyar Velagic
Producer: Ben Ulrich, Simon Bogocz, Felix Mann
Production: WennDann Film
World Sales: Films Boutique

Synopsis

I Understand Your Displeasure is a fast-paced, gritty drama that takes the boring, everyday bureaucracy of the commercial cleaning world and turns it into a high-stress psychological thriller. The story revolves around Heike (Sabine Thalau), a 59-year-old customer service manager working for an after-hours cleaning firm. Heike is stuck in a stressful middle-management trap, belonging neither to the corporate executives at the top nor completely to the frontline workers at the bottom. Instead, she is squeezed from all sides: managing the strict demands of upper management, dealing with endless complaints from picky clients, and worrying about her physically exhausted cleaning crew. From the front seat of her car, she juggles chaotic schedules and handles one logistical nightmare after another over the phone. Whenever her team runs short-handed or workers call in sick, she has no choice but to roll up her sleeves and jump into the grueling, back-breaking physical labor herself. Her already fragile routine completely unravels when she tries to hire an off-the-books worker from a major subcontractor. The subcontractor fires back, threatening to pull his entire support unless Heike cooks up more billable hours and money for his own crew. Backed into a corner, Heike faces a brutal moral dilemma. To please the subcontractor and hit these fake quotas, she has to sacrifice and fire one of her own regular employees. This heartbreaking choice completely ruins her relationship with her closest friend and colleague at work, sparking a deep personal and professional betrayal. The film follows Heike’s downward spiral into a crushing cycle of mental and physical burnout, where staying afloat means deciding who to throw under the bus next. With tight, handheld camera work that puts you right in the middle of the exhaustion of low-wage jobs, the movie’s non-stop pacing and intense workplace crises keep the energy moving at full speed.

Screenings