Paolo Sanseviero is a professor at a German university and by now more married to his research work than to his wife: as he is about to climb the next rung of the career ladder, Martina decides to leave him. Just at this moment, bad news reaches Paolo: his brother Antonio informs him that their mother is dying. When Martina hears this, she jumps over her shadow and accompanies her husband to Italy. It is a difficult journey that the two of them embark on. It was Paolo's mother who expelled him from the house 20 years ago.