Early evening - a big city. Two teenagers shyly flirt with each other, a housewife sits down to watch her daily soap, nurses in a hospital gossip before the nightshift starts, a trendy couple drives through rush hour, so excited they can hardly wait to get home - a man with a rifle enters a building seeking revenge. In the blink of an eye seemingly unrelated events turn upside down what were once secure, happy, 'normal' lives. Behind fear, beyond the unexpected, there is love and hope.

In the late 70s, young Petra Grust begins teaching at the progressive Odenwald School. She is flattered by the trust placed in her by its widely respected headmaster Simon Pistorius. But gradually certain incidents at the boarding school begin to unsettle her. Petra then realizes that Pistorius is abusing Frank, a 13-year-old. When Frank is told that he has to spend school holidays with Pistorius, he tries to commit suicide. Petra tells Frank's father (the chairman of the school's governing body) but he believes Pistorius instead of his own son. Petra fails to convince people of the man's true nature. 30 years later, Frank goes to Petra, who has long since left the school and has stopped teaching altogether. He has never been able to speak about what happened but now, after the suicide of another pupil, he is no longer willing to remain silent. He wants Petra to bear witness at the school's forthcoming anniversary celebrations.

Germany, 1971: Erika (Anna Schudt) is actually completely overwhelmed by her work in the butchery of husband Kurt (Christian Erdmann), the education of three common children and additional obligations, which brings the village life, as her doctor also revealed that she is pregnant again. Another baby is the last thing she needs now, and so she decides to drive to her sister Charlotte (Alwara Höfels) to Cologne and let the baby abortively secretly abort. Since there are complications during the surgery and Erika can only be rescued, but her husband still learns from the matter. It comes to a huge dispute, in which another topic is the future of daughter Ulrike (Lene Oderich). Without further ado Erika then packs her things and moves with her children to Charlotte. But at a time when legislation inevitably makes her dependent on her husband, she is denied a self-determined new beginning. Erika decides to do something to change that ..