★★★☆☆
We’re all familiar with democracy sausage. Each election, fortified by the local butcher’s bangers, we bond over the most elementary democratic activity.
Well, here the sausage is collateral damage in a bin-fire argument that breaks out over a seemingly innocuous decision to upgrade a BBQ – the titular Holy Grill – and threatens to burn down the Lengenheide Tennis Club.
Released in Germany as Extrawurst, (a more nuanced title), The Holy Grill is directed by Marcus H. Rosenmüller, and adapted by screenwriters Dietmar Jacobs and Moritz Netenjakob from their own play. They’ve done a pretty good job, too, of opening the play out, with external shots, newly created characters, and a clubhouse of Weimar Republic-style compliant (soon to be feral) members.
President for 25 years, Heribert (Hape Kerkeling) presides over the tennis club like a chieftain, dispensing favours to mates, while ignoring pretty much anyone else. It’s a fairly benign despotism – autocracy dressed up as democracy – unchallenged because of adherence to the club motto (“unity wins in war and peace”) and a general air of laissez-faire.
But it’s a surface equanimity as artificial as the tennis courts, which cracks when frustrated deputy president Matthias (Friedrich Mücke) proposes replacing their old existing BBQ with a larger model.
Matthias has a convincing PowerPoint presentation worked up, too. Shouldn’t we, though, suggests Melanie (Anja Knauer), consider the needs of the club’s star player and sole (German-born) Turk, Erol (Fahri Yardim), and buy a secondary BBQ?
Erol, who, as a Muslim, doesn’t eat pork, is Anja’s playing partner. His sporty masculinity threatens Torsten (Christoph Maria Herbst), Anja’s husband. Torsten is an outsider, a bit of a tosspot from Berlin, vegetarian, beanie-wearing, but wants to be accepted.
Meanwhile, Matthias, who covets Heribet’s job, learns Erol has a larger BBQ at home. Instant BBQ envy sets in, triggering latent racism. As suppressed tensions are released, the club’s unity collapses. What follows is an exploration of cultural sensitivities, intolerance, homophobia, blokey exclusivity, progressive views, racism, and belonging.
The tennis club is, in effect, German society in microcosm, albeit a light-hearted take. It’s interesting to compare this Turkish second-generation experience to that in the much darker Head On. Twenty years later, the same issues remain, though here done with significantly less consequence (or elan). It is a comedy, after all. Though perhaps German comedy is an acquired taste for an Australian.
I tended to find the screenplay more thought-provoking than laugh-out-loud funny, though there are plenty of chuckles to be had. The desperate desire for consensus that contrarily sustains the arguments is interesting in a societal context.
Once the arguments escalate, however, there’s nowhere else to go, and while the dialogue is witty and delightfully catty at times, the interactions soon become predictable. That the characters are archetypes bordering on cliché only exacerbates this problem.
The acting can’t be faulted. Kerkeling is particularly good, lending Heribert just the right amount of petty corruption and pathos. The cast gives it everything, working very well as an ensemble.
They’re hampered, though, by unimaginative direction that exhibits an odd lack of timing. Maybe again it’s a cultural thing, but I found that the slapstick of a broken ball-machine ran out of legs early, limping on through reprises with diminishing comic return.
The ending is Benny Hill bonkers, and events get wrapped up neatly as everyone magically comes to their senses. That’s not a spoiler – the film is a comedy!
The Holy Grill a diverting 100 minutes.
The Holy Grill is screening now around Australia as part of the 2026 HSBC German Film Festival.
Tickets to The Holy Grill are available here.
Website: https://germanfilmfestival.com.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/germanfilmfestival/
Watch the trailer here:
Film details:
Title: The Holy Grill (Extrawurst)
Director: Marcus H. Rosenmüller
Cast: Hape Kerkeling, Christoph Maria Herbst, Fahri Yardim, Anja Knauer, Friedrich Mücke
Country of Origin: Germany
Duration: 100 mins
Rating: M
2026 German Film Festival Dates and Venues by City:
Sydney: 6 – 27 May, Palace Norton Street, Palace Central, Palace Moore Park
Canberra: 6 – 27 May, Palace Electric
Brisbane: 6 – 27 May, Palace James St, Palace Barracks
Adelaide: 6 – 27 May, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Perth: 7 – 27 May, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX & Palace Raine Square
Byron Bay and Ballina: 7 – 27 May, Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas
Melbourne: 8 – 27 May, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Church St, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, The Astor Theatre, Pentridge Cinema, Palace Penny Lane
Ballarat: 8 – 27 May, Palace Regent Ballarat
