World War II has just ended, and sweeping landscapes of a crumbling German town fill the opening sequence. What follows is an intimate re-imagining of the Mann family’s experience post-war with the patriarch Thomas (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erica (Sandra Hüller) embarking on a sort of literary tour of the country to boost national morale perhaps? But also maybe to boost his ego and boast patriotism after having escaped to the US for many years to avoid the destruction that had consumed his homeland.