Barbara Auer, in one of her finest film roles, plays Ruth, a divorced mother trying to raise her school-aged daughter Sofia on her own while finishing her medical studies at the university. Nikos, her estranged husband kidnaps Sofia on the pretext that his wealthy Greek family can give the young girl a better home and education. So Ruth is driven to "kidnap" her daughter back. The twist that makes this psychological thriller a winner? We learn rather early on that both parents are vain and conceited people, both belligerent in protesting their parental rights even while the measures they take are clearly above and beyond the law. And extra complications surface when Ruth discovers that Greek laws differ slightly from those in Germany in regard to parental custody.

To her credit, Vivian Naefe doesn't paint My Daughter Belongs to Me in black-and-white tones, nor does she take sides on the legal implications. Instead, she leaves the ending wide open by having Sofia decide where she "belongs" - with her father or her mother. Well acted and photographed (Gernot Roll), Naefe's thriller holds another surprise for the audience to mull over: the hired kidnappers, and the Pandora Box that opens.