The Golden Glove (2019): The Anti-Hollywood Serial Killer Masterpiece
There is a dangerous tendency in modern cinema to intellectualize serial killers—to portray them as calculating masterminds, charming rogues, or misunderstood anti-heroes. Director Fatih Akin takes a sledgehammer to this trope with The Golden Glove (2019). Adapting Heinz Strunk's acclaimed novel about the real-life German murderer Fritz Honka, Akin delivers what is arguably the most wretched, unglamorous, and physically repulsive depiction of a serial killer ever committed to film. It is a grueling watch, and that is precisely the point.
Set in the gritty St. Pauli district of Hamburg during the early 1970s, the film acts as a time machine to an era of post-war trauma and terminal alcoholism. Honka’s hunting ground is "Zum Goldenen Handschuh" (The Golden Glove), a 24-hour dive bar populated by society's discarded remnants: ex-SS officers, destitute sex workers, and hopeless alcoholics. By centering the narrative entirely within this environment, the movie achieves a suffocating realism. The violence, when it occurs, is never stylized. It is clumsy, pathetic, and agonizingly drawn out, executed by a man who is barely functional.
A Masterclass in Visceral Cinematic Disgust
What sets The Golden Glove apart in the true crime genre is its weaponization of set design and makeup. Akin manages to do the impossible: he makes a film that almost emits an odor. The interior of Honka’s attic apartment—strewn with empty Schnapps bottles, decaying food, pornographic magazines, and the bodies of his victims hidden behind the walls—is crafted with stomach-turning detail. When Honka hangs dozens of pine-scented "Wunderbaum" air fresheners to mask the smell of rotting flesh, the audience can almost feel the cloying, putrid atmosphere leaking through the screen.
This level of transgressive cinema forces the viewer into an uncomfortable complicity. We are trapped in that attic with him. There are no detectives chasing clues, no thrilling cat-and-mouse games, and no overarching mystery to solve. There is only the grim, repetitive cycle of addiction, despair, and senseless brutality. It is a sobering reminder that real-life evil is rarely dramatic; it is usually just ugly, sad, and incredibly banal.
Why It Remains Divisive
Upon its premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, The Golden Glove polarized critics. Some hailed it as a brave, uncompromising masterpiece of German cinema, while others condemned it for its unrelenting grotesquerie and lack of moralizing. But Akin’s refusal to inject artificial morality is exactly what gives the film its power. By refusing to offer a traditional narrative arc of justice or psychological explanation, the film reflects the terrifying reality of Honka's crimes: they happened simply because the world was looking the other way.
★ Hidden Details
Fatih Akin spent four years in pre-production researching Fritz Honka's case through Hamburg police archives and interviews with surviving witnesses. The prosthetic transformation of Jonas Dassler — who was just 22 during production — required four hours of makeup application every single day. The work was so radical that the production initially listed a fake actor name in promotional materials to conceal the casting until the Berlinale premiere. The film screened at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival and became one of its most discussed and divisive entries.
Frequently Asked Questions About The Golden Glove (2019)
Where can I Watch The Golden Glove (2019) free online?
You can Watch The Golden Glove (2019) for free on Sharing The Sickness. We curate and embed the highest quality uncut broadcast of the film via third-party external platforms, providing full access without requiring any subscriptions or signups.
Is The Golden Glove based on a true story?
Yes. The film is heavily based on the real-life crimes of German serial killer Fritz Honka. Between 1970 and 1975, Honka murdered at least four women from the Reeperbahn red-light district in Hamburg, dismembering their bodies and hiding the remains in his attic apartment.
Why is the movie considered so difficult to watch?
Unlike standard Hollywood thrillers, Fatih Akin's direction completely deglamorizes the serial killer. The film forces the audience into a claustrophobic, filthy world defined by severe alcoholism, poverty, and pathetic desperation. The violence is clumsy and raw, creating an atmosphere that many viewers describe as deeply suffocating and physically repulsive.
How did they make the actor playing Fritz Honka look so grotesque?
Fritz Honka was portrayed by Jonas Dassler, who was remarkably only 22 years old during production. The astonishing visual transformation required three hours of heavy prosthetic makeup every day to alter his nose, teeth, hairline, and skin texture, completely masking his youth.