Angels With Only One Wing - Heaven and Hell

The film follows the concept of a soap opera with individual but loosely connected episodes. Overall, the story arc features a group of Goths (and the ghost of a pink bathrobe) sharing a flat, utilising a multitude of clichés and preconceptions about the Goth scene. The inhabitants of the flat (Seba, Mara, Ulli, Tillo, Micha, Nina, and Eduard the bathrobe ghost) are the “angels” featured in the title. The plot develops over an entire year spanning from January to December.

The film starts at the end of the first movie, i.e. the destruction of Earth by a massive explosion. This, however, only happens on TV, as is revealed to the viewer at the start of the current film.

After a short encounter with a couple of Jehova’s Witnesses, the angels form a plan to conjure Satan. Since Sebi died during the course of the first film but wasn’t able to pay the ferryman, the angels plan to persuade Satan to pay for the passage. The incantation is a success, and after all his conditions are met Satan agrees to pay for the passage in exchange for Sebi’s soul, to which the latter agrees.

Sebi’s conduct in hell, however, doesn’t cut the mustard, leading to his expulsion by Satan and a subsequent need to return to the flat share. As his room has already been bequeathed to Ulli’s new boyfriend (Pierre), some resentment arises. This problem is eventually solved by Pierre moving into Ulli’s room.

As a result of the unfamiliar proximity, however, the relationship between Pierre and Ulli noticeable suffers. On the other hand, Nina and Pierre are starting to bond (platonically at first).

In the meantime, Micha has acquired a cat, to the dismay of his flatmates. The fact that white cat hairs now adorn every surface is a particular annoyance for the angels. Sebi finally makes the problem disappear and posts a video of his success on the internet. The popularity of that video causes the angels to become addicted to social media, except for Nina and Pierre, who seem to be immune.

They attempt to free their flatmates from the clutches of the internet with increasingly radical measures, which, however, prove futile. As a final means, Pierre uploads private porn videos he shot with Ulli – with unforeseen consequences: the videos are a major hit and Ulli is invited as a special guest star for the fetish party at the Wave-Gothic-Festival “WGT”. The other angels decide to accompany her as her private fan club.

During a picnic at the “WGT”, Sebi is haunted by a variety of biblical miracles. At the end, a single cloud appears, and a thundering voice proclaims that Sebi is the Son of God and everyone is to mark is his words. As a staunch atheist, Sebi is offended and tries to shoot the cloud.

The underlying reason for the miracles is a wager between Satan and God on Sebi’s soul. Since God has lost the bet, he has to accept Sebi into heaven. As the Grim Reaper is on strike, however, Sebi cannot be delivered at once. To avoid a trade dispute, God attempts to diffuse the situation utilising a social pedagogical approach, which leads to a complete escalation of the situation.

In the meantime, the angels have returned home, and are now trying to process their experiences. This results in a discussion about religion and spirituality, in which Sebi attempts to repudiate the existence of everything paranormal, the others, however, persuade him to have his fortune told with tarot cards.

Said tarot reading leads to an argument between Tillo and Pierre. Sebi prefers Tillo’s interpretation, so he shoots Pierre. As almost all of the angels are by now irritated by Pierre they decide not to resurrect him.

Incidentally, Death appears in the flat’s kitchen. Unfortunately, however, he had accidentally swallowed a blue pill during the dispute with God and Satan, and in consequence has lost his memory. He knows neither who nor where he is. Mara, on the other hand, believes he is her grandfather, whose skull has been on the living room dresser since the beginning of the film. All attempts to restore Death’s memory or to persuade Mara he is not her “Gramps” prove futile. Thus Death takes the place of “Gramp’s” skull on the dresser, clucked over by Mara.

In the meantime, Ulli and Nina discover their necrophilic tendencies and spend more and more time in the cool cellar, while the other angels suffer from the increasing summer heat. To cull further increases in temperature, the angels decide to become proactive in climate protection, and to relinquish climate-damaging habits. Since they don’t actually want to do without anything, however, they decide only to abstain from things they would never do anyway.

Meanwhile, flat ghost Eduard, who is actually Nina’s old bathrobe, is jealous because Nina is only spending time with her late lover Pierre in the cellar. He decides to resurrect Pierre in typical Frankenstein fashion. This goes awry, however, and Pierre returns as a zombie. Nevertheless, Nina is still hopelessly in love with Pierre, and believes that he is only a bit poorly and attempts to nurse him back to health.

The other flatmates, however, feel that this is the last straw, and that the flat is overrun with weird flatmates. An argument ensues about who is to be evicted. During this dispute, Death gets hit with a skull, which restores his memory, and he finally collects Pierre’s corpse.

The problem of redundant flatmates is solved, but now the angels feel remorse about the way they treated Pierre, and decide on a cathartic visit to his grave. At the cemetery, they meet Satan, who is unwilling to go to a satanic ritual taking place at the graveyard. After some digging, he tells the angels that he cannot abide the ritual sacrifices at most satanic rituals, because he is a vegetarian. Since he is the personification of evil, however, he cannot go public. To protect his image, the angels must promise to keep his secret, which they more or less do.

Back home, the angels want to celebrate their many good deeds. Since there are no Goth parties that month, they decide to organise a Shrovetide celebration, since it’s that time of the year. As they don’t want to surrender to too much happiness, however, they only invite Death and Satan, and together they watch a carnival jester’s speech on the telly.

Unfortunately, the angels don’t understand the particular humour of the jester, and an argument ensues during which Sebi shoots all of the flatmates and finally the TV set.

After Sebi has resurrected all of the flatmates, the angels are startled by the fact that the next obligatory holiday is quickly approaching: New Year’s Eve. After a lengthy discussion, they agree about how to celebrate the event: a classical quiet evening of punch and pouring lead. As a compromise, Sebi is allowed a single firecracker, since this is the only way he will participate.

Just before midnight, the angels notice that the sparkling wine has gone missing. Flat ghost Eduard, on the other hand, is hopelessly drunk, and insults everyone present. And Sebi’s banger – which is a bit larger than he himself and which he lights in the living room – turns out to be a fake. As a final measure to save the evening, the angels proceed to tell their fortunes by pouring lead. At this juncture, everyone receives more or less what is to be expected. Sebi is the last in line; his result is a small bomb with a burning fuse. Once the fuse has burned down, the Earth explodes, and the film reaches its end. During the credits, God and Satan argue about whether or not God has cheated.