Introduction[edit]
Lola (Franka Potente) receives a frantic phone call from her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). Manni is a small-time criminal who has just collected 100,000 marks cash in his most recent crime. Lola had agreed to meet Manni at the crime scene and to drive him to deliver the money to his boss, Ronnie. Lola tried to do so, but her moped was stolen en route to meet Manni. When Lola failed to arrive on time, Manni, carrying the cash in a bag, took a subway train. Manni panicked when he saw ticket inspectors in his car. He fled and thoughtlessly left the bag of money on the subway because he does not have a subway ticket. As he does, Manni spotted a homeless man examining Manni's money bag in the subway car. Manni, realizing what he had done, pursued the train as it departed, only to find the man and the money gone.
Manni calls Lola from a phone booth. He complains that Lola let him down. He tells Lola that unless he raises 100,000 marks to give Ronnie within 20 minutes, Ronnie will kill him. Manni also tells Lola of his plan to rob a nearby supermarketâwhich for several obvious reasons is unwise. Lola implores Manni to wait and promises to find the money. She decides to ask her father (Herbert Knaup), who is a bank manager, for help.
After this telephone call, the rest of the film is divided into three "runs" by Lola, in each of which she tries to obtain the money and save Manni. Each run starts from the same situation, but develops differently and has a different outcome. Each run has brief flashforward sequences that show how the lives of the people that Lola bumps into develop after the encounter.




The house in AlbrechtstraÃe (Berlin-Mitte) where the three episodes begin


First run[edit]
Lola hangs up the phone and starts running (in a cartoon sequence) down the staircase of her apartment. She passes a man with a dog; the dog growls at her, causing her to sprint faster. Then she is seen running (back in real life, not in a cartoon) through the streets of Berlin towards her father's bank and she collides with a woman pushing a baby carriage, who is shown to later steal a baby after having lost custody of her own. Continuing, Lola runs alongside a cyclist who offers to sell her his bike, which she refuses; a flash-forward shows him being robbed on his bike, but later marrying a nurse from the hospital in which he recovered. Lola then causes a car crash, which involves her father's colleague, Mr. Meyer, and Manni's boss, Ronnie. As Lola arrives at the bank, she passes a banker shown later to be paralyzed in a car accident, then killing herself shortly after. Then Papa(her father)'s mistress reveals she is pregnant, causing Papa to dismiss Lola's request for help; Papa reveals Lola isn't his biological daughter, and announces he is leaving his family to elope with his mistress. Papa orders security to take Lola out of the bank. The security guard consoles her. He is later shown to have a heart attack.
Meanwhile, Manni uses a blind lady's phone card to request money from an apparent friend, only to fail. His friend says he can only give 500 marks which makes Manni angry. Lola keeps on running and ends up parallel to an ambulance that narrowly misses crashing into a glass pane carried by workmen. Lola runs on to meet Manni, and she realises he has already begun the robbery. She shouts his name trying to stop him, but he is unable to hear her calls and proceeds to rob the store. Lola decides to help him. A police officer comes in the store with a gun, ordering Lola and Manni to surrender. Lola hits the officer over the head with a gun. Once they obtain the money, they flee on foot but find themselves surrounded by police. Manni throws the bag with money up in the air, causing a nervous police officer to accidentally shoot Lola in the chest.
Fatally wounded, Lola recalls a conversation with Manni about their love, and whether she wanted to leave him. The movie returns to dying Lola. Her decision was to not leave Manni, and she doesn't want to die, and the film then reverts to their phone call at the beginning.
Second run[edit]
Lola hangs up the phone and starts running, only to be tripped by the man with the dog; falling down the stairs, Lola injures her leg, which makes her limp. Running to the bank, she collides with the woman pushing a baby carriage, who would later win the lottery and live a luxurious life. Passing the cyclist, she accuses him of stealing the bike he is selling; a flash forward shows he became homeless. Manni, again borrowing the blind lady's phone card, unsuccessfully tries to borrow money.
After causing another car accident between Mr. Meyer and Ronnie, Lola arrives at the bank moments later; the delay due to her limp allows Papa's mistress to explain he isn't the child's father. Lola hears more of the argument this time and becomes infuriated. Lola leaves the bank but the security guard's words catch her attention and she comes into the bank again. Taking the security officer's gun, Lola robs the bank, and in the process passes the banker; a flash forward shows her falling in love with one of her colleagues. Lola escapes because the police mistake her for a fleeing hostage. Passing the ambulance, Lola asks to ride in the vehicle, distracting the driver and causing it to hit the carried pane of glass. Still late for the rendezvous with Manni by moments, Lola calls his name, only this time he hears her call. Manni holsters his gun and walks to Lola, only to be hit by the hastened ambulance, which fatally wounds him.
Manni recalls asking Lola how she would cope with his death. He believes she will have another boyfriend after his death but Lola says that he (Manni) is still alive. The film briefly returns to the present day and shows Manni refusing to die before restarting once again at the beginning of Lola's run.
Third run[edit]
Lola hangs up the phone and starts running and leaps over the punk and his dog. Running to the bank, she avoids the woman with the baby carriage, who in a flash forward joins the church and devotes herself to God. Lola also narrowly misses the cyclist; the cyclist instead offers his bike to the homeless man in a restaurant, who uses Manni's money to buy it. Further ahead in this timeline Lola is nearly hit by Mr. Meyer's car, preventing his collision with Ronnie. After avoiding Ronnie's car, Mr. Meyer proceeds to pick up Papa. Since Lola can no longer speak to Papa, she didn't know what to do. She told herself to just keep running, and eventually she encountered a casino. She had only 99.2 marks, but somehow convinced the cashier to give her a 100 mark chip. Betting the chip on a roulette table, she wins two consecutive bets, raising 126,000 marks. She puts the money both of the times on the number 20, referring to the 20 minutes she has. The people in the casino are shocked to see her win. Approaching the ambulance from behind, Lola climbs inside as it avoids the carried pane of glass. Recognizing the patient inside as a security guard from her father's bank, Lola realizes he has suffered a heart attack, and holds his hand to help calm him. As soon as Lola holds his hand, his heart rate becomes normal and the doctor in the ambulance is surprised.
Meanwhile, the blind lady from whom Manni borrows a phone card leads Manni to notice the homeless man with his money, who passes on the cyclist's bike. Manni chases him with a gun, inadvertently causing a car crash between Ronnie, Mr. Meyer, and the man who stole Lola's moped. Mr. Meyer and Papa died in the crash, as well as the thief. Manni manages to retrieve his money, trading it for his gun. Lola reaches the supermarket, but cannot find Manni. She shouts his name but there is no response. A car, a little farther away, pulls up with Manni and Ronnie inside, who shake hands. Manni, no longer in need of the 100,000 marks, asks Lola what is in the bag she is carrying, only for the film to end in a freeze-frame on Lola's reaction in an elliptical instant before a possible flash-forward.
The rest of the film was divided into three what?
runs