Requiem

Michaela Klinger, a 21-year-old from a devout Catholic family, is accepted into university after losing a year to a medical health issue. Her mother remains wary while her father offers support. She resolves to start university and make a fresh start.

On her first day, Michaela is late to her pedagogy class; the professor stops her and asks what she believes in. She answers that she believes in God, and the class laughs, exposing the pressure she faces. She then reconnects with Hanna, a former classmate who is cool toward her at first.

During a test, Hanna struggles and Michaela helps her cheat to pass. The gesture marks a turning point in their relationship and begins their uneasy alliance. They bond as they navigate the campus social scene.

Michaela and Hanna spend time together and go swimming in a lake, enjoying a rare moment of carefree companionship. The scene reinforces their growing friendship outside academic pressure. It foreshadows the support they will need later.

At the end of the week, Michaela has dinner with her family and encounters tension with her mother. They then attend a religious event together, underscoring the family's constant emphasis on faith. The conflict hints at underlying fears and expectations.

One night she wakes for water and experiences a disturbing episode: she cannot touch her rosary and faints. Her father finds her and gently wakes her, revealing a crisis that will challenge her beliefs. The event foreshadows a medical diagnosis that is not easy to swallow.

Returning to school, Michaela attends a party and shares a kiss with a guy named Stefan before dancing. The next morning, Hanna discovers Michaela has epilepsy, and Michaela asks her to keep it a secret from their families. The revelation strains their rapport but a necessary boundary forms.

Michaela visits the Roman Catholic church and tells the priest about the strange events; he does not believe her, calling them fantasies. He advises her to see a psychologist instead. The moment marks a shift from religious interpretation to medical consultation.

Michaela goes on a lake date with Stefan and later visits a doctor for tests using an imaging machine, with an X-ray scheduled for the following week. A young pastor prays with her during the process, while Hanna remains supportive as they begin to navigate treatment.

Winter holidays begin and Michaela returns home for Christmas, where she argues with her mother over new clothes she bought. She experiences another epileptic attack and attempts to pray, but her parents struggle to help. The family tension peaks during the holiday season.

Back at university, Hanna prepares to leave for her internship; Michaela reveals she has been hearing voices and asks Hanna not to leave. They argue about her drinking and not seeing a psychiatrist, while Stefan and Hanna try to help her. The group grapples with how to support Michaela's deteriorating condition.

Michaela's parents and pastors visit; they are shocked that she can't pray anymore. The older pastor warns that an exorcism requires proof, while her father urges telling everyone she is fine and continuing her medication. Michaela retreats to a locked room as the religious intervention intensifies.

Pastors arrive and attempt to heal Michaela through prayer and exorcism at the family home. Stefan leaves the room as Hanna arrives, seeking to see Michaela and help, but Michaela remains convinced she is suffering for a divine purpose inspired by Saint Katharina. The confrontation between faith and reality deepens, heightening the tragedy.

The film ends with Michaela in a car, staring out a window as the family’s prayers intensify around her. It is explained that Michaela died of exhaustion from exorcisms performed in her parents' home. The closing image underscores thecost of conflating faith with medical denial.