Elsbeth is in love with Valentino but her father, who has sexually abused her since she was a child, refuses to release his "princess". Elsbeth develops an eating disorder. Her mother refuses to acknowledge the cause of her daughter's illness in order to preserve their middle-class family idyll on lovely Lake Constance. Despite Elsbeth’s emotional scars the love between the two young people continues to flourish in secret. Then her father reports Valentino to the immigration authorities. A fateful confrontation between father and daughter ensues.