Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie follows Fanny and her family after her grandfather dies on the morning of his hundredth birthday. As the relatives confront the loss, a bitter inheritance dispute unsettles the family’s established power structure, turning grief and old tensions into a sharp drama-comedy.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie is a German drama-comedy centered on a family forced to confront death, money and shifting authority. The story begins when Fanny discovers that her grandfather has died on the morning of his hundredth birthday.

Written and directed by Pauline Roenneberg, the film places an inheritance dispute at the heart of its family conflict. As old power relations begin to change, the relatives must negotiate both the practical consequences of the death and the tensions that have long shaped their relationships.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie movie details

Story without spoilers

Fanny finds her grandfather dead in his bed on the morning of his hundredth birthday. The event brings her family together to deal with the immediate reality of his death, but their situation quickly becomes more complicated when a bitter dispute over the inheritance breaks out.

The conflict challenges the family’s existing balance of power. Rather than focusing only on mourning, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie uses the inheritance struggle to examine how authority can shift when established arrangements are threatened. The supplied story details do not reveal how the dispute is resolved.

What to expect

The film combines drama and comedy, with its tone built around a family crisis that turns into a contentious inheritance battle. Viewers can expect the story to focus on relatives under pressure, competing interests and the reversal of long-standing power relationships.

At 2 hours and 18 minutes, it has room to give the family conflict substantial attention. The premise points to an ensemble-driven story, with Fanny at its center and several relatives involved in the surrounding dispute. Specific scenes, stylistic choices and the ending are not provided.

Cast and creative team

Lea Drinda plays Fanny, with Victoria Mayer as Valerie, Corinna Harfouch as Marianne and Karoline Eichhorn as Karoline. The cast also includes Thomas Mraz as Kasimir, Mai Duong Kieu as Joy, Lara Mandoki as Anna, Kathrin Anna Stahl as Marlene, Christian Baumann as dairy farmer Thomas Riedinger and Gisela Aderhold as Gisela Fromm.

Pauline Roenneberg wrote and directed the film.

• Lea Drinda as Fanny
• Victoria Mayer as Valerie
• Corinna Harfouch as Marianne
• Karoline Eichhorn as Karoline
• Thomas Mraz as Kasimir
• Mai Duong Kieu as Joy
• Lara Mandoki as Anna
• Kathrin Anna Stahl as Marlene
• Christian Baumann as Dairy farmer Thomas Riedinger
• Gisela Aderhold as Gisela Fromm

Release and production context

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, originally titled Kalter Hund, is a 2026 film from Germany in the German language. It is listed with a release date of September 17, 2026, and a runtime of 2 hours and 18 minutes. The production companies are Construction Film and Milk Pictures. Its listed status is Released.

Production companies: Construction Film, Milk Pictures

Movies Dock view

With its combination of family drama and comedy, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie frames an inheritance dispute as a test of relationships and authority. The premise offers a focused setup for a story about what happens when a family’s established order is challenged, while keeping the central question of the inheritance conflict at the forefront.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb