The story follows Gianni (Kim Rossi Stuart), a young father attempting to forge a relationship with his physically and psychologically disabled son Paolo, whom he meets for the first time as a teenager. Accompanying Paolo to a special hospital in Berlin, Gianni meets Nicole (Charlotte Rampling), a woman devoted to the care of her own handicapped child, whose instinctive support and understanding help Gianni come to terms with the guilt of having abandoned his son.