Marianne Brunner, a thirty-nine-year old houswife, lives with her husband Paul (45) and their daughter Yvonne (11) in a middle-class neighbourhood in Switzerland. They live the ordinary lives of ordinary people until Marianne wins 2.9 million Swiss francs in the Swiss lottery. She would like to keep her windfall secret from friends and neighbors but cannot resist the temptations of her newfound wealth. News of her lucky break spreads through the neighborhood like a swelling cancer and soon everyone is caught in a diabolical circle of illusions, envy and malice.