Maria, 40 years old, lives with her husband Heinz in a frightening-boring marriage without any love. Maria has also to care about her invalid father, who surpresses her. Maria feels to him a love-hate relationship. To her “fetish”, a little african wodden figure, she writes letters with all her sorrows, longings and fears. One day her prisoned life changes: she falls in love with her neighbour Dieter. But it is too late for a new beginning – Maria is unable to trust her feelings. By some unhappy accidents her father and her husband are dying. Maria hides the corps of Heinz in a cupboard. Dieter finds the corps and recognizes suddenly the whole tragedy of this family. The escape in a closed psychiatric situation of her life dreams will be the only way out for Maria. DEADLY MARIA is sober and sometimes even sombre, but with a fair dose of black humour. It is also made with great visual virtuosity and feeling for the bizarre. Tykwer´s style is hyperrealistic: He uses extreme characters and he did not tie himself to a specific time or place in the set dressing. DEADLY MARIA is the first cinema movie of Tom Tykwer. Before he made several short films.