Jan wants to reconnect with his family after the death of his wife. Neither his sister nor his mother recognise him, instead they plan his murder to escape the financial crisis.
The Guest is a diploma thesis by the young director Nastya Molchanova from St. Petersburg. The film was made over a period of six months. The team from Russia and Germany needed seven days to shoot the film. The production was directed by W. Bettmer, Managing Director of Filmwerkstatt Münster and Simon Gross, filmmaker from Münster.
Left to his own devices after the death of his wife, successful businessman Jan (40) decides to reconnect with his family. But he soon realises that a lot has changed since his disappearance. His family is in financial difficulties and the hotel that his parents once ran is to be sold.
When he arrives at the hotel, he is greeted by a young woman, his sister Martha (20), who Jan himself did not know about. His mother doesn’t recognise her own son in the strange man from the city. In order to spend at least some time with his family, Jan rents a room in the hotel, but keeps his identity a secret.
Martha scowls at the intruder. She wants to build a new life for herself in the city and urges her mother to sell the hotel. The guest comes at a bad time. She finds a large sum of money in the stranger’s luggage. Driven by envy and the desire to start a completely new life in the city, she hatches a plan to kill the unknown man and finally make off with the money, but her mother refuses.
She slowly builds up a closer relationship with the guest. By chance, she finds the man’s passport and realises that the unknown guest is her son. She quickly seeks out Martha, but she has already put her plan into action. Jan lies lifeless on the floor next to her. Left cold by the situation, she covers up all evidence of the murder, takes the money and flees. Her mother, on the other hand, is left alone in the hotel.