Rising High

In RISING HIGH, Viktor (David Kross) is a young man who has arrived in Berlin with no money or resources, but plenty of charm and resourcefulness. While struggling as a construction laborer and without the proper proof of employment needed to secure a place to live, Viktor manages to get the proper documentation forged under the name “Dirk Diggler,” signs the lease on a luxury flat, and proceeds to rent out the flat to the large group of Bulgarian laborers he works with. After that scam is busted when the laborers throw a raucous party, Viktor meets Gerry, who is rougher, older, and married, but shares Viktor’s zeal for real estate scams. The pair concoct a scheme in which they go to property auctions and buy buildings with money they don’t have, then con innocent prospective buyers into singing fraudulent mortgages. To take this to the next level, Gerry brings in his childhood friend and mortgage broker Nicole. An attraction between Nicole and Viktor soon follows, and soon the two are married and have their first child. With the success comes a party lifestyle of booze, drugs, and women, and soon Viktor’s life begins to spiral out of control. As Viktor’s ambitions and cocaine addiction continue to grow, he finds himself no longer capable of staying one step ahead of the authorities.