Henrik Agdestein ( Matthias Habich ) is considered a misanthropic veteran of Norwegian literature. When his wife dies after a long illness, he is devastated. The next day, his children are at the door to support him: the kind hearted teacher Sonja ( Catherine Bode ) with her family, the spirited policewoman Laura ( Fanny Staffa ), who was always Dad's darling, and the ambitious son Leif ( Rainer Sellien), Norway's Minister of Justice.