A wish list becomes the plea of a generation, when a teenage boy asks his mother what she wants for Christmas, and she answers in the most unusual way: “I wish for you to get your youth back” – along with all the ups and downs of growing up. She wishes for everything her son so deeply missed, during two years of the pandemic and hard restrictions in Germany.

In the film an intimate chamber play turns into a roller coaster ride of emotions at the very scene of the pandemic: a family’s home. We relive what could have been from parties, to falling in love and travelling. The mother's monologue, the seamless tracking shot and the reinterpretation of Bon Jovi's "It's my life" take us from youthful highs to the deep pain of first heartbreak. In four minutes, the film tells an entire coming of age drama.

In Germany, the youth were among those who suffered most from the pandemic’s restrictions: with homeschooling, contact restrictions and long periods under lockdown, teenage life was basically cancelled. Their needs were overlooked and the impact on a whole generation’s mental health was underestimated. Their missed experiences, which would shape their lives forever, were never addressed in public.

We created a timeline that turns what could have been a dry chamber drama into a ride through tsunamis of emotion. We contrast lively party scenes with intimately shot dialogue, giving the film a refined and fluid atmosphere that drives the emotional plot forward, frame by frame. We get lost in time – as many of us did during pandemic, capturing the zeitgeist of teenagers and their parents.

The skillful camerawork combines in-camera day and night transitions with a seamless blend of VFX and in-camera effects to transform the film’s sole setting, the family’s home, into a space that feels expansive and diverse. The camerawork switches between different shot sizes, flying from angle to angle and sometimes even over the walls of the apartment.