For ten years, immigrant Tobias has worked at a Swiss clock factory and, in the relentless ticking, he saw life go by without much expectation. One day, he sees Caroline, a former schoolmate from back in Eastern Europe, and falls in love with her, but she's married and has a daughter.

A film festival jury, composed of film professionals, judges a film about a court in which three terrorists who allegedly kidnapped a judge to try him are put on trial.

Following over two dozen different individuals in the almost wordless atmosphere of a dark night in a Brussels town, acceptance and rejection in the realm of romance is examined.

Several young men and women arrive one after the other at Hôtel des Acacias, full of hope, desire and vitality. In the bustle of this hotel, everyone is looking for love. Hôtel des Acacias was an exercise guided in 1982 by Chantal Akerman at Belgium’s INSAS audio-visual college.