Forbidden Love Between Brothers

“Sebastian or Basti?” asks Kolja. “Sebastian,” he answers immediately and with emphasis, there is no room for doubt. The newcomer to the family is supposed to say his full name. No nickname, no closeness, no familiarity.

Because the 16-year-old Sebastian is wary and skeptical when the slightly younger Kolja suddenly becomes part of his family. He is the son of a deceased girlfriend, the father explains—not entirely convincingly. And since the boy has no one else, he moves in with them.

Kolja Upends the Family Dynamic

For Kolja, life in the countryside feels unfamiliar. The teenager grew up in Hamburg; his mother was an alcoholic artist. Not an easy childhood, but it made him independent and self-assured. Sebastian is very different: he tries to keep his distance from Kolja. The idea that someone could take his place as the oldest son unsettles him. But that’s not all that makes him nervous.

Because there is an attraction between the two students, even though they must first summon the courage to pursue it. They already know their father has fed them a lie. Yes, their father — because Sebastian and Kolja are brothers.

The Whole Town Has an Opinion

Incestuous relationships probably rank among the biggest social taboos. That’s why they are a coveted subject in myths—think Oedipus—and in literary and film history. Even in pornography this boundary-pushing is popular, although legally it’s often depicted with alleged stepmoms, stepdads, or step-siblings. With “Twincest,” i.e., sex between twins, there is even a dedicated gay subgenre.

That the film “Free at Heart” centers on a love story between two underage brothers is therefore quite brave. The feature debut from director Max Hegewald tells not only how Sebastian and Kolja deal with it, but above all the consequences of the taboo relationship: how their parents, a doctor, and a high school teacher, as well as the entire village, respond to it.

Who Does This Love Harm?

Moral questions, or even legal ones, come up for the teenagers played by Linus Moog and Aurel Klug only at the outset. Or, in Kolja’s words: If their feelings are consensual, who are they harming? Yet arguments fall on deaf ears against a community that deems their love sick. It’s not always clear whether this refers merely to two brothers kissing—or two young men.

“Free at Heart” gallops through its nearly two-hour runtime. The editing remains brisk, almost like a TikTok video stretched to feature length. The overall effect is relentlessly kinetic, so you don’t often feel you’ve truly settled into a scene before it moves on. The funeral of Kolja’s mother, for instance, lasts less than two minutes—and there’s little sense of mourning or loss in the film.

Some subplots could have been trimmed to sharpen the focus on what matters most, especially since they sometimes drift into soap-opera clichés. When Sebastian’s girlfriend learns of the relationship, she pressures Kolja: “Stay away from him,” she even threatens, otherwise everyone will learn about the brotherly love. The same goes for some supporting characters who, like the little sister Lilli, come off as either unconvincing or genuinely annoying.

Queer People Are Targeted Here
In the small town lives a character named Tess, whose gender identity isn’t clearly defined as a transgender woman or a crossdresser, played by a male actor. Tess is portrayed mostly as an exotic oddball and as a lonely target of taunts from teenagers. At the film’s outset, her apartment even catches fire, with arson implied. The unmistakable message for audiences and for Sebastian is that queer people face a tough time here. But when he seeks Tess out after the first kiss, she reacts with total lack of solidarity and anger. As a character, Tess has no depth—she exists primarily to fulfill a dubious function.

“Free at Heart” also carries a few more elements that don’t help the film, for example the very repetitive and nearly random piano music that drapes many scenes. All of it gives the impression that the film wastes a lot of potential. The strength lies in the ambitious core idea and the two leads, who clearly have good chemistry. But the film overloads itself instead of focusing on the brothers and their complex situation.