Since her little brother Tim drowned in Trieste, Paula has lost the will to live. When she encounters old Helmut, a widower who wants to drive the ashes of his late wife to South Tyrol, she sees a way out – to go to Trieste and take her own life on Tim's birthday. But during the journey, an unexpected friendship develops with Helmut – and her lust for life is reborn.

In the mid-1970s, Elfi falls in love with Sepp. Since both are "slightly" disabled, serious problems soon arise. The decisions about their lives are made by others. What they simply imagine—marriage, having children, and simply being happy—becomes a difficult undertaking without a happy ending.