After a failed relationship from which she has a daughter, Sarah, an intact family is all 36-year-old Birgit desires. Ever since she’s been living with her husband Andreas, their son Philipp and Sarah in a comfortable economic situation, she feels like she is very close to her ideal.

But Sarah’s puberty puts the family to a hard test. Andreas feels his authority questioned by the bucking young girl and implements ever more drastic measures in her upbringing. After a fight, Birgit suffers a nervous breakdown which brings the couple closer again. The situation seems to unwind and Birgit pushes unswervingly to have Sarah adopted by Andreas. But this exerts new pressures on the family and above all on Sarah. Her rebellion, Andreas’ harsh punishment and her overtaxed mother’s seeming unawareness launch a destructive mechanism which pushes Birgit and Andreas further apart and makes Sarah the keeper of a horrible secret with her stepfather.