Zbyszek Butryn returns to Poland from exile to help win the Solidarity elections. His children, staying in orphanages, who intend to find him, learn about his father's return.

After a forty-year marriage, Helena announces her intention to pursue sexual experiences with other men, much to the shock of her husband Paweł. Despite raising three wonderful children, a romantic life that was fulfilling and financial comfort, Helena feels restless and longs for more.

A parliament member's sixteen year old daughter Agatha falls in love and runs away with a convicted young tramp, while her father uses his friends in the government and police to brutally break their happiness.

In post-communist Poland, former secret police agent Franz Maurer works as a regular cop pursuing a major drug ring. As he and his old comrades lose their privileges and face public scorn in the new reality, Franz realizes that some of his former colleagues are now on the opposite side of the law.