"Tatort" in the check What's the difference between It girls and influencers?
Stuttgart's "Tatort: Ex-It" about the psychology of faded fame: former It-girl Pony (Kim Riedle) and Stephan Hübner (Hans Löw) have lost their daughter and their son is missing. Because of their inner distance, the two cannot grieve together.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
In "Tatort: Ex-It", Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller, right) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) are called to the scene of a disturbing corpse found on the Neckar. The car that was pulled out of the river contains a drowned baby, strapped into a child seat. What has happened?
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
About ten years ago, Pony (Kim Riedle) was one of the most photographed women in Germany. A so-called "it girl" who was marketed by her husband and manager. Pony then withdrew into private life and had two children. Her marriage was on the rocks when a tragic accident occurred. Or was it murder?
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) and Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) are standing on the banks of the Neckar. A car with a dead child has been recovered from the water.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller, left) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) interview witnesses who saw Pony buying cigarettes on the evening of the crime.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Study on the disappearance of a celebrity: Pony (Kim Riedle) found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that at some point fewer and fewer people were interested in her.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Pony Hübner (Kim Riedle) walks through the rainy night to buy cigarettes at a kiosk. She leaves her children in the car. When she returns, the car with the children has disappeared. It is later found in the Neckar - with a dead child.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Pat Wagner (Anne Haug) is Pony's sister. The two women are very close. Pat, on the other hand, thinks that her boyfriend Echse (David Zimmerschied) should stay out of her nephew's missing child case.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Pony (Kim Riedle) and Stephan Hübner (Hans Löw) are unsure whether their son is still alive.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Is Stephan Hübner's (Hans Löw, left) son still alive? He himself and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) don't know whether they should still hope so.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller, right) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) have to deal with a truly toxic family in "Tatort: Ex-It".
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare, left) interrogate Pony Hübner (Kim Riedle).
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Stuttgart's "Tatort: Ex-It" about the psychology of faded fame: former It-girl Pony (Kim Riedle) and Stephan Hübner (Hans Löw) have lost their daughter and their son is missing. Because of their inner distance, the two cannot grieve together.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
In "Tatort: Ex-It", Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller, right) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) are called to the scene of a disturbing corpse found on the Neckar. The car that was pulled out of the river contains a drowned baby, strapped into a child seat. What has happened?
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
About ten years ago, Pony (Kim Riedle) was one of the most photographed women in Germany. A so-called "it girl" who was marketed by her husband and manager. Pony then withdrew into private life and had two children. Her marriage was on the rocks when a tragic accident occurred. Or was it murder?
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) and Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) are standing on the banks of the Neckar. A car with a dead child has been recovered from the water.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller, left) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) interview witnesses who saw Pony buying cigarettes on the evening of the crime.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Study on the disappearance of a celebrity: Pony (Kim Riedle) found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that at some point fewer and fewer people were interested in her.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Pony Hübner (Kim Riedle) walks through the rainy night to buy cigarettes at a kiosk. She leaves her children in the car. When she returns, the car with the children has disappeared. It is later found in the Neckar - with a dead child.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Pat Wagner (Anne Haug) is Pony's sister. The two women are very close. Pat, on the other hand, thinks that her boyfriend Echse (David Zimmerschied) should stay out of her nephew's missing child case.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Pony (Kim Riedle) and Stephan Hübner (Hans Löw) are unsure whether their son is still alive.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Is Stephan Hübner's (Hans Löw, left) son still alive? He himself and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) don't know whether they should still hope so.
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller, right) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) have to deal with a truly toxic family in "Tatort: Ex-It".
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare, left) interrogate Pony Hübner (Kim Riedle).
Image: SWR/Benoît Linder
Stuttgart's "Tatort: Ex-It" tells of the psychology of fading fame. The detectives investigate the death and disappearance of a child whose mother was once known as an It girl. What is that anyway?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- In Stuttgart's "Tatort: Ex-It", Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) investigate the case of a dead and a missing child.
- The mother of the two, Pony Hübner (Kim Riedle), was once a so-called "it girl" who was marketed by her husband Stephan (Hans Löw), but whose fame has now faded.
- It girls have been around since the 1920s, but they are different from today's social media stars and influencers on the internet.
The new Stuttgart "Tatort: Ex-It" is a clever, albeit extremely painful psychogram of a toxic marriage. But that's not all.
The film reveals the portrait of a deeply desperate woman: just ten years ago, Pony Hübner (Kim Riedle) was one of the most photographed women in Germany. Her publisher husband Stephan (Hans Löw) marketed the It girl through his magazines and clever media alliances. But then came the era of influencers and social media - in which Pony was "disposed of" as a star. The ex-It girl wasn't really happy in her private life either.
But what is an It girl anyway, who are the best-known representatives and how does the concept differ from that of today's influencers and social media stars?
What was it all about?
During a rainy night in Stuttgart, Pony Hübner's SUV is stolen along with her two sleeping young children. Just when the former It girl wants to buy cigarettes at a kiosk. The car is later found in the Neckar. The baby daughter - still strapped into her car seat - has drowned. The slightly older son has disappeared without a trace.
Detectives Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) investigate the toxic relationship of a couple who are unable to mourn their dead daughter. Could it be that the son has been abducted by the car thieves? The Hübners' villa is waiting for a ransom demand.
What was it really about?
The case itself is exciting because it is unusual. Who would steal a car with children in it? Or was it a kidnapping after all? As a viewer, you are eagerly awaiting a ransom demand. But will it ever come?
In addition, screenwriter Wolfgang Stauch - who also wrote the Cologne opera "Tatort: Die Schöpfung" from the previous week - presents a character once again fantastically embodied by Kim Riedle, who can't come to terms with her faded fame: "Who am I when I look in the magazines and I'm no longer there?" asks Pony rhetorically at one point. The new case from Stuttgart is a harrowing portrait of a person who cannot find inner stability - actually a basic prerequisite for mental health, should external confirmation ever fail.
What exactly is an It girl?
The term goes back to the author Elinor Glyn (1864 to 1943). She coined it when she referred to the actress Clara Bow as "the It Girl" after she played the lead role in the film "It" (1927, German title: "Das gewisse Etwas"), which was based on Glyn's novel. "It" describes an innate, magnetic charisma, self-confidence and a certain indifference to convention.
An It girl is, so to speak, a celebrity who you think is "cool" without knowing exactly what makes her special. It girls were socially present, style-defining, often depicted in the media and famous for being famous. As a rule, they were also projection screens of their time.
What is the difference to influencers and social media stars?
An It girl could only become one through the attention of traditional media. An It girl was simply famous for being famous - regardless of her actual profession, if she had one. Social media stars and influencers, on the other hand, work as content creators and strategically build up their reach. In the case of the it-girl, the media makes a person famous, while the social media star uses their own channels. You could also say: It girls are watched, influencers watch their audience.
The fact that it-girl Pony from Stuttgart's "Tatort" (Crime Scene) can't do anything after fame, so to speak, also has to do with her life experience, which tells her that things "just happen". In contrast, influencers and social media stars are often hard, disciplined workers.
Who were famous It girls?
In addition to the aforementioned Clara Bow as the first official It girl, the silent film icon Louise Brooks should also be mentioned from the early days of the term. With her bobbed head, she created a new form of femininity.
From the middle of the last century, we can mention actresses such as the recently deceased Brigitte Bardot, who stood for sexual self-determination and the "untamed woman" type. Or Audrey Hepburn, who was celebrated for her elegance, understatement and timeless style.
It girls of the late 60s and 70s were Andy Warhol's muse Edie Sedgwick, Bianca Jagger as a jet-set celebrity of the disco era or Chloë Sevigny in the noughties, who stood for "heroin chic" and anti-glamor. Some still refer to Paris Hilton as an It girl. However, she is already making the transition to influencer.
What's next for "Tatort" in Stuttgart?
In February 2025, Stefan Krohmer directed "Tatort: Lucys Geburtstag" (screenplay: Daniel Nocke): The body of an 80-year-old man is found in a car, apparently no one has missed the senior citizen. The film is set to premiere on May 22 at the SWR Summer Festival in the traditional open-air cinema on Stuttgart's Schlossplatz - and will then be shown on TV.
Another case was filmed at the end of 2025: In "Tatort: Stäffele" (written and directed by Dietrich Brüggemann), Lannert and Bootz have to solve the death of a man who was robbed after a party on the city's many staircases and probably pushed to his death. The detectives investigate among the dead man's well-to-do circle of friends, but also among cleaners and catering staff.
