Careful

Tolzbad is introduced as a mountain town that exists under the constant threat of deadly avalanches. The residents live with a careful restraint of their emotions to avoid triggering disasters. An opening lecture emphasizes caution and repeating mantras like Think twice and Dont stand so close to the walnut tree to keep people from losing control.

The two brothers Johann and Grigorss train to be loyal servants of Count Knotkers while their mother Zenaida adores them. She secretly despises Franz, who has been exiled to the attic. The family dynamic centers on loyalty, hierarchy, and unspoken tensions.

The ghost of the brothers' blind, dead father appears to Franz and warns of looming doom. He laments that Zenaida never loved him and instead seemed to burn with love for the Count's mother. The encounter foreshadows the tragic consequences of hidden resentments.

Johann is betrothed to Klara, while Grigorss harbors a hidden affection for her. The arrangement deepens the family’s emotional stakes and sets up competing desires. Their relationships lay the groundwork for future betrayals.

Johann secretly spies on Zenaida through the chimney and, after forging a love potion, acts out a grave transgression while she sleeps. The resulting horror drives him toward self-harm: he burns his lips with a hot coal, cuts off his fingers with garden shears, and finally throws himself from the mountain.

Zenaida reveals that her passion for the Count Knotkers has rekindled since her mother’s death, and that her love for the Count has always overshadowed Franz. She explains the roots of her hatred for Franz and then unexpectedly accepts Franz into the family.

Klara pushes Grigorss toward action as she seizes control of the plot and drives the plan toward a duel with the Count. Her fixation with her father and her schemes heighten the tension around the duel and hint at deeper motives. The duel is framed as the first step in a larger manipulation.

Grigorss and Count Knotkers duel with daggers on a remote mountain site, and Grigorss fatally wounds the Count. He drags himself home, his victory tainted by the realization of what he has done.

Back at the house, Zenaida tends Grigorss’ wounds and learns that her beloved master has been slain. Enraged by the revelation, she expels Grigorss from the house and hangs herself in the attic, witnessed by Franz.

Grigorss is taken by Klara to a mountain cave she prepared as a private retreat for love, now repurposed for their plan to kill Trotta. Klara explains her belief that her father raped her, strengthening her resolve to see him dead. The two navigate a dangerous alliance as plans take shape.

Grigorss accompanies Herr Trotta on a sleigh ride through the mountain cold when a pistol shot triggers an avalanche meant to bury Trotta. The plan largely succeeds, but Klara sacrifices herself by leaping into the sleigh to die while kissing her father.

Alone in the cave, Grigorss endures a grim solitude. A single teardrop triggers another avalanche that seals his fate as he freezes, haunted by visions of a joyful reunion with his parents.

Franz and Sigleinde join the search for their vanished relatives, unaware that they are already dead. The truth remains hidden as the mountains keep their secrets.