This film could easily be a true story taken from contemporary Denmark. It is a typical Tuesday morning: stormy weather, slush, and bitter cold. Two young women are cycling to work. They make an unpleasant discovery: they find a dead man on a bench in the park.
Marie Jantzen is in her forties and, thanks to hard work and common sense, the owner of a successful dry cleaning business. Although she is successful and has money in the bank, she feels cheated by life, as she has neither a husband nor children. In an attempt to make amends, she responds to a marriage advertisement and comes into contact with the charming Georg Tingbo, who unfortunately turns out to have a few skeletons in his closet.
Consul Bergholtz is ill and will probably die soon. Family members gather at her bedside, each with the expectation of receiving a share of the impending inheritance. Among the heirs are her sons, the alcoholic editor Oscar and the homosexual lecturer Ejnar, as well as their pretty and recently divorced sister Esther. But when her grandson, the cunning and unscrupulous businessman Kurt, shows up, the intrigues are stoked. Kurt couldn't care less about good manners and cultural veneer; he simply takes what he wants.
