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Tatort’s Murot Explores Consciousness as Viewers Split Over Experimental Turn

The film became a flashpoint over how far Tatort should push experimental storytelling.

Overview

  • The Wiesbaden episode Murot und der Elefant im Raum aired on December 28 and centers on a fictional procedure that lets investigators enter a comatose mother’s inner images to help find her child, written and directed by Dietrich Brüggemann.
  • Live reactions on social media skewed negative, with complaints about confusing, unrealistic elements as well as gripes over pacing, tone and sound mix.
  • Supporters praised the ambition and Ulrich Tukur’s performance, placing the film within the series’ auteur-driven Murot strand that previously bent form in 2019’s Murmeltier.
  • Science coverage noted that a machine to walk through another person’s subconscious has no current basis in neuroscience and should be viewed as a fictional device.
  • The backlash followed viewer criticism of the December 26 Munich theater-set installment, underscoring a broader public‑broadcasting debate over license-fee programming and experimental formats.