Journalist Elias investigates the background to a suicide in a village in East Westphalia. Günther Sperl, son of the local butcher, has taken his own life after years of humiliation and despair. His oversensitive talent was not appreciated in the stuffy provincial atmosphere. Elias, who shares his fear of deviating from the "normal", feels a strong inner closeness to him and delves deeper and deeper into the outsider's past. During his research, he himself experiences the coldness and narrow-mindedness of the villagers.