In the tragic autumn of 1944, the possibility of liberation from the war and the chains of the German alliance flashes before our eyes. Lacking leadership, in the first few hours people cannot yet know that their hopes are dashed, and they prepare the country not for celebration, but for burial. Some of the soldiers defect to the advancing Soviet forces, while others reload their weapons. A small group chooses a third path: they flee the front and try to fight their way home through adventurous journeys and encounters.

Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl, an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.