Watch The Golden Glove (о¤оџ О§оўоґојоџ О“о‘оќо¤о™) (2019) ... Apr 2026

Fatih Akin's 2019 film The Golden Glove ( Der Goldene Handschuh ) is a grueling, unflinching descent into the depraved life of Fritz Honka, a real-life serial killer who terrorized Hamburg’s St. Pauli district in the 1970s. Adapted from Heinz Strunk's biographical novel, the film rejects the "glamorous" or "genius" tropes often found in Hollywood serial killer portrayals, such as those of Hannibal Lecter or Ted Bundy. Instead, it presents a visceral, "smellable" portrait of a society's rotting underbelly. The Anti-Glamour of Fritz Honka

At the center of the film is a transformative performance by Jonas Dassler as Fritz Honka. Disfigured by prosthetics to replicate Honka’s real-life features—a broken nose, greasy combover, and thick glasses—Dassler portrays a man who is a "freakish charisma void". Fatih Akin's 2019 film The Golden Glove (