Fourteen-year-old Jeanne has lived in a farm commune since she was two years old. Her mother and father live in city communes and rarely visit. This is one of the commandments given by Otto, who rules the commune: children are to grow up without parents. Knowing nothing else, Jeanne enjoys her outdoor life, surrounded by lots of other children, until she falls in love with 16-year-old Jean and her childhood paradise begins to fall apart.

In a small town in 1970s West Germany, Stephanie is raised by two parents who have no business having children. The mother suffers from an unspecified medical condition—one both mental and physical. The father makes it clear that he has no patience for his daughter. Young Stephanie takes solace in exploring the mysteries hidden away in the increasingly untidy house, particularly the trunk full of her grandfather’s butcher’s equipment; older Stephanie takes far more sinister comfort in the tools found therein.

While exploring a lost place in the forest, best friends Millie and Svea stumble across an abandoned hunting rifle.

Eifel landlady Toni Janssen wants a child, but not necessarily a man. After an alcohol-fueled slip, her ex-boyfriend Hajü, of all people, gets her hopes up. Meanwhile, Heidi accidentally meets an old childhood friend.