Opening with a brief glimpse of the childhood friendship between Nils and Turkish-German Tayfun, Freunde quickly cuts to the present day, when the Berlin cafe Tayfun (Erdal Yildiz owns is raided by the police. One of the cops, Nils (Benno Fuermann), does a favor for his old friend by disposing of a stash of drugs; unfortunately, his boss Schenk (Michael Gwisdek) finds out and forces Nils to go undercover and work against Tayfun. While reluctantly spying on his friend, Nils meets up with their old chum Caro (Christiane Paul), who is romantically involved with Tayfun. Sparks are soon flying between Caro and Nils, who were once lovers, and they painstakingly rekindle their old relationship. Meanwhile Tayfun, who believes Nils has been suspended from the police force, has welcomed him into his immigrant community, and tensions start to grow as Tayfun catches wind of the dynamics between Nils and Caro. Everything reaches a crisis point when Tuncay (Ehran Emre), Tayfun's younger brother, is killed after a police raid.
by Rebecca Flint Marx
synopsis
