Main cast: Emma Bading (Lilith), Janina Fautz (Greta Birnstein), Ludwig Simon (Samuel), Samuel Finzi (The Devil), Emilio Sakraya (Carlo), Oliver Korittke (Gabriel Birnstein), Alwara Höfels (Sibylle Birnstein), Matilda März (Melody), Amina Merai (Daria), and Johann von Bülow (School Director Papenhoff)
Director: Marco Petry
Picture: the Devil, as we know it, operates from a skyscraper in Frankfurt. Hell is basically a big corporation now, in the trade of corruption, and shockingly enough, the movie doesn’t make any mention of Big Pharma or Silicon Valley at all. Hmm.
Lilith is the Devil’s daughter, and she wants nothing more than to be allowed to be involved in the family business. Her father, however, insists that she is not ready. That doesn’t stop her from constantly pestering him to give her a chance, until he has had enough and challenges her to a test. If she could corrupt a nice soul that he’d pick out for her, within a week, then he’d make her a member of his staff. If she fails, well, he’d have her posted in the accounts department—a fate that Lilith understandably finds abhorrent and cruel even from the Devil himself.
Her father sends her to the town of Birkenbrunn, where she’d pose as a high school student and corrupt his target: a sweet and kind young lady named Greta Birnstein. You name it, Greta embodies that cliché: she’s bullied by her peers, she’s not popular and in fact somewhat invisible, her parents are conservative sorts and she suppresses many of her personal wants in order to avoid disappointing them, and of course, she has a crush on the popular boy Carlo.
This should be easy. Lilith bribes Carlo to pay attention to Greta over three days before dumping her, reasoning that Greta’s heartbreak will turn her mean and nasty. She also helps to make Greta popular by helping her befriend the Heathers-type Melody and Daria, perhaps hoping that their influence will lead Greta further astray. In one week, she’d be a full-fledged devil!
Well, hold that. Lilith soon finds herself genuinely liking Greta, and becomes conflicted over the machinations that she has set in motion. Oh my, Carlo and Greta may actually develop something genuine after all, and Greta’s good nature even rubs off on Melody and Daria! Worse, Lilith finds herself attracted to the too-cool-for-school bad boy Samuel, who of course looks hot in a conventional way despite acting like he’s completely a rebel.
Meine teuflisch gute Freundin is released with the English title How to Be Really Bad, despite a more literal translation being My Devilish Good Friend, perhaps because these people are hoping that the title will get people to think that this is another European soft porn masquerading as high cinema art. To those folks, I hate to break their hearts, but I have to say it: this is a kid-friendly romantic comedy that can be safely watched by very young teens (unless their parents, like Greta’s, will freak out over scenes of people kissing and kids smoking)—a so-called risque school performance that has all the adults here in a tizzy is three young ladies in a dress that doesn’t even show cleavage swaying in a PG-manner to The Pussycat Dolls’s Don’t Cha.
One thing that is obvious from the get go is how Lilith is wrong: she is terrible as a devil, heh, but that’s the whole point of this movie, I suppose. Failing at being evil is a good thing, after all. However, this is not a dark comedy. Far from it, actually, as this movie doesn’t even try to subvert high school movie tropes. Instead, it embraces them without apologies, and doesn’t even bother to put a new spin to things or even keep the whole proceeding fresh. This is a very predictable movie, with everything telegraphed to viewers that have been around the block and know the tropes.
However, this is still a watchable movie. This is, I feel, mostly because of the chemistry between the two lead actors. Emma Bading, especially, makes a pretty fun Lilith. She has the right attitude for the take-no-prisoners sort that Lilith is, and yet, when she has to show vulnerability, she does so convincingly.
Also, while the twists and turns are predictable, they are also fun. The way Lilith turns Greta’s uncool sweaters, forced onto her by her parents, into the last fashion trend in school is amusing indeed, as are the ways Lilith and her father often interact in that manner reminiscent of parent and child that are exasperated by but still are fond of one another.
In fact, the latter is what makes the ending of this movie work. There is a happy ending, of course, for everyone, but it is contingent on a bunch of teenagers successfully fooling the Devil himself. I mean, come on. Still, if I assume that the Devil is on to the whole thing, but he’s just going to quietly close one eye anyway because, at the end of the day, she is his bratty daughter, the ending makes perfect sense.
Meine teuflisch gute Freundin won’t break any new grounds, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like watching this thing. Sure, I do wish the movie has some surprises in store. For example, why isn’t Samuel an undercover angel, with a name like that? No, he turns out to be just another high school teen heartthrob archetype. I also personally think this movie would have been so much more fun if it had been darker. Still, it’s what it is, and it’s alright the way it is.
Speaking of heartthrobs, oh my, the Devil is very easy on the eyes. Are there any naughty scenes of Samuel Finzi out there? Come on, he’s an actor from Europe, so there are bound to be some!
