Clara has made it. Away from the East German provinces, she lives an independent life in Berlin as a lecturer and earns her doctorate in philosophy. Between her professional ambitions, an affair with one of her students, and the demanding friendship with her doctoral mother Margot, there is little time for family. When Clara returns home with her fifteen-year-old daughter for her mother Inge’s 60th birthday, she is confronted with her ideal of a free, self-determined life. How high is the price she has to pay for this?