A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Positive Messages
very little
Greed is a prominent theme; main character shows little remorse over the lives he ruined due to his scams.
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Positive Role Models
very little
Characters are consumed by greed, resort to a variety of real estate scams in order to make money.
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Violence & Scariness
a little
Bare knuckle boxing in the middle of an out-of-control party.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
a lot
Topless women serve drinks at a wild party within the first minute of the movie. Lead characters frequent a bordello, have affairs with the prostitutes working there. Women shown dancing in lingerie.
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Language
some
"F--k" used a few times. "A--hole," "s--t," "bitch," "ass," "crap," "piss."
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a lot
Cocaine use throughout the movie. Cigarette smoking. Two lead characters shown at a bar trading off vodka shots while playing a drinking game, become highly drunk. Alcohol drinking at a party. Champagne drinking.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Rising High (aka Betonrausch) is a 2020 German-language crime drama about the rise and fall of an ambitious young real estate con artist. Within the first minute of the movie, topless women are shown serving drinks at a wild party, and lines of cocaine are snorted by partygoers. Cocaine is the drug of choice of the lead character. Cigarette smoking throughout. Binge drinking, including a scene where the lead character and his soon-to-be business partner try to match each other shot for shot with vodka before drinking straight from the bottle. The two lead male characters are regulars at a bordello, and it's understood that they're both having affairs with two of the prostitutes there. Some profanity, including "f--k" used a few times. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
What's the Story?
In RISING HIGH, Viktor (David Kross) is a young man who has arrived in Berlin with no money or resources, but plenty of charm and resourcefulness. While struggling as a construction laborer and without the proper proof of employment needed to secure a place to live, Viktor manages to get the proper documentation forged under the name "Dirk Diggler," signs the lease on a luxury flat, and proceeds to rent out the flat to the large group of Bulgarian laborers he works with. After that scam is busted when the laborers throw a raucous party, Viktor meets Gerry, who is rougher, older, and married, but shares Viktor's zeal for real estate scams. The pair concoct a scheme in which they go to property auctions and buy buildings with money they don't have, then con innocent prospective buyers into singing fraudulent mortgages. To take this to the next level, Gerry brings in his childhood friend and mortgage broker Nicole. An attraction between Nicole and Viktor soon follows, and soon the two are married and have their first child. With the success comes a party lifestyle of booze, drugs, and women, and soon Viktor's life begins to spiral out of control. As Viktor's ambitions and cocaine addiction continue to grow, he finds himself no longer capable of staying one step ahead of the authorities.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about movies centered on antiheroes. What are some of the qualities that make Viktor an antihero? How does Rising High try to explain how his childhood influenced his behavior?
How is drug and alcohol use shown in this movie? Does the movie show the possible consequences for overindulgence?
What are your thoughts on the ending of the movie? Do you prefer movies to have clear-cut endings or movies that are more open to interpretation?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: April 17, 2020
- Cast: David Kross, Emily Goss, Frederick Lau
- Director: Cüneyt Kaya
- Inclusion Information: Middle Eastern/North African directors
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Run time: 94 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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