Plot

The story tells of growing up in provincial West Germany in the 1980s, in a family where one subject dominates everything: the mother's body weight. Is this beautiful, strong-willed, unpredictable woman too big? Does she really need to lose weight? Yes, she does. Decides her husband, who is increasingly dominated by the obsession that his wife's overweight is responsible for everything he is being denied: the promotion, the social ascent, the approval in the village community. And the mother is exposed to this, day after day.

The story tells of the first great love of our lives: the love between a daughter and her mother. Set in provincial West Germany in the 1980s, in a family in which one topic dominates everything: the weight of the mother, Cornelia. Is this beautiful, headstrong, unpredictable woman overweight? Does she urgently need to lose weight? Yes, she does. Decides her husband Werner, who is increasingly dominated by the obsession that his wife's excess weight is responsible for everything he is denied: promotion, social advancement, recognition in the village community. And Cornelia is exposed to this, day after day. The daughter Ela, from whose perspective the film is told, is caught between two sides. She experiences all of her mother's frustration - the frustration of being stuck at home with two children, the inability to pursue gainful employment, the permanent lack of satisfaction as a woman. While the mother asserts that there is nothing she can do about gaining more and more weight, Werner puts her on the scales in front of her daughter and reprovingly notes her progress or setbacks. Ela is increasingly infiltrated by her father's statements about her mother, who he considers unreasonably overweight - and when one night she finally catches her mother secretly binge eating in the cellar, it becomes difficult for Ela to tell who is actually lying and who is telling the truth - who is right. When Cornelia finally finds the strength to break away from her quietly violent husband, her daughter Ela is faced with a difficult decision: is her mother a pathetic, fat loser from whom she must break away - or a courageous, strong heroine whom she should support in her desire for liberation?