21/02/2025 - BERLINALE 2025: Creator Jan Schomburg’s series, loosely based on a real political and economic scandal, grips the audience thanks to its refined visuals and solid story

A man walks over to one of his expensive luxury cars, an orange Mercedes, strips naked and then lies on it, almost wanting to make love to the vehicle, or maybe just looking for a metaphorical hug. Looks like it’s going to be all about money, money, money in a rich man’s world. But at what cost?

As the scene progresses, we come to understand that Other People’s Money [+see also:
interview: Jan Schomburg, Dustin Loose
series profile], the series created by Jan Schomburg and premiered in Berlinale's Panorama section, is a fiction series, yet is inspired by true events. Unfortunately. Its inspiration is drawn from the books The Cum-Ex-Files and Die Akte Scholz by Oliver Schröm, who conducted the research for them with his partner, Christian Salewski. The Danish book Det Store Skatterøveri by Niels Fastrup and Thomas G Svaneborg provided additional food for thought for the show. In terms of narrative style, the most immediate comparison is Adam McKay, whom the creators themselves have mentioned as an influential source.

While its English title recalls the 1991 Danny DeVito/Gregory Peck film of the same name, the original German title opted for a much more straightforward option, Die Affäre Cum-Ex. But what is a Cum-Ex deal? First of all, its Latin name originated from the fact that it requires complex stock trading with (cum) and without (ex) dividends. The concept, in short, as explained in the opening while the naked man slithers over his brand-new car, is to pay a tax once and get it refunded twice, all while claiming it’s fully legal.

Money-thirsty tax lawyer Sven Lebert (Nils Strunk) and his older mentor Doctor Bernd Hausner (Justus von Dohnányi) implement this strategy and mastermind a shady criminal operation for a total of a stolen €146 billion, a sum that equates to €326 taken from every single European citizen. In the meantime, Danish tax officials Inger Brøgger (Karen-Lise Mynster) and Niels Jensen (David Dencik) are trying to solve the mystery of the disappearing money, while no one else is really supporting them. District attorney Lena Birkwald (Lisa Wagner) is also working to uncover the international fraud, fighting against the powerful group of investors, politicians and bankers who are trying to prevent her from sharing the truth.

The show, spanning eight episodes of around one hour each, explores the world of finance in a pop yet highly sophisticated way. Its greatest achievement is its ability to satisfy those familiar with economics and its related laws, as well as a broader audience, who may occasionally struggle to keep up with certain nuances but will never feel left out of the story. The fast-paced rhythm of creator Schomburg’s work doesn’t prevent the series from being highly detailed, even in its most frantic moments. Its characters are well-rounded and -written, with solidly built and believable motives, even when their behaviour is debatable, to say the least.

The cinematography relies on a cold colour palette, which gives an impression of detachment from its characters while also providing an elegant look. The show occasionally softens its rigorous look and serious tones with functional, but often also very funny, on-screen text aimed at clarifying location changes and through some fast-paced, engaging editing. Dustin Loose and Kaspar Munk’s direction is sharp and focused, but not intrusive, allowing the story to speak for itself without any interference that could have disrupted it.

All in all, the viewing experience is smooth, and apart from a few sequences that could have been streamlined or handled differently, the series maintains a consistently high quality.

Other People’s Money was produced by Germany’s X Filme Creative Pool and Denmark’s True Content Entertainment, in co-production with Austria’s EPO-Film. Beta Film is selling the series worldwide.