Opening reel shows dishwasher Theo Stoer (Vogel) freaking out in a seaside hotel and later viciously beating and raping a passing cyclist (Anna Brass) amid the sand dunes. Nine years later, he's released from psychiatric detention and sent on probation to the Ruhr town of Muehlsheim, where he lodges in a hostel run by social worker Sascha (Andre Hennicke) and gets a job at a printers.

Theo is long off the sex-suppressants, and seemingly in control of the woman-hating demon inside him. But it's clear from the abnormal amount of time he spends working out that his return to the outside world won't be easy.

At the printers, he meets Nettie Engelbrecht (Timoteo), 27-year-old daughter of his boss, Claus (Manfred Zapatka). She's in the midst of moving away from home, much to the distress of her dad, with whom she shares some kind of (unexplained) history of abuse.

Gradually, in a very natural way, Theo and Nettie's paths increasingly collide, with him tracking her down in Belgium where she's working in a chocolate factory. The two eventually get it together, following a beautifully staged, wordless sequence in which they listen to an "Ave Maria" in a church.

Both carry a vast amount of psychological baggage regarding the opposite sex, but they appear to have made a breakthrough. Back in Germany, Nettie confesses she's in love with Theo, but when the latter offhandedly attacks and rapes a woman one night, it's clear he hasn't yet tamed the beast inside him.

Timoteo recalls young German thesp Julia Hummer (with whom she worked in "Ghosts") in her dour but magnetic playing, and she's more than a match for the experienced Vogel in their scenes together. Aside from these two actors, pic manages to keep the viewer hooked simply to see which path the story takes.

In the end, however, there are no real surprises or left turns. Movie could have done with more scenes like the late one where Nettie tracks down one of Theo's former victims (Judith Engel).

Though the denouement is disappointing, last few reels do start to develop into a touching love story as Nettie starts stalking Theo in vague parallel to the way he once stalked his potential victims. Largely thanks to Timoteo's perf, pic finally grapples with the weird love story at script's heart, between a couple kept apart by the same emotional problems that brought them together.

Glasner, who made a mark in the '90s with the two very different character comedies "Die Mediocren" and "Sexy Sadie," handles effective cold, desaturated d.p. work.

Camera (color, DV-to-35mm), Glasner; editors, Mona Braeuer, Julia Wiedwald; music, none; production designers, Tom Hornig, Conni Kotte; costumes, Sabine Keller; sound (Dolby Digital), Stefan Soltau; assistant director, Sarah Altmann; casting, Simone Baer. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (competing), Feb. 13, 2006. Running time: 163 MIN.