Franz Bieberkopf, Rainer Werner Fassbinder known as Fox, is a gentle, unsophisticated working-class gay man who works at a Munich carnival as "Fox, the Talking Head." When his boyfriend Klaus, the carnival owner, is arrested for tax fraud, Fox loses his job and sees his world shrink. He visits his alcoholic sister Hedwig, [Christiane Maybach], but she cannot offer real help. With his funds drained, Fox resorts to a desperate gambit, swindling ten marks from the overweight gay florist, Florist "Fatty" Schmidt, [Peter Kern], and using that to buy a lottery ticket.
A month later, at a party, Fox is introduced to a sophisticated circle of gay friends by Max, [Karlheinz Böhm], a man who navigates culture with ease. Among them is Eugen, [Peter Chatel], a handsome but morally calculating man who initially snubs Fox for his proletarian manners. Yet Eugen quickly changes his mind when he learns that Fox has won 500,000 Deutsche Marks in the lottery. Eugen leaves his boyfriend, Philip, [Harry Baer], and brings Fox into his orbit, and the two sleep together. The next morning, Philip discovers the liaison, but Eugen persuades him to step aside for the moment. Fox and Eugen then travel through a sequence of scenes—from a working-class gay bar to an upscale restaurant—where they meet Eugen's two other friends, and Eugen arranges a glimpse of his life, including a stint at a new factory.
To stabilize their relationship, Eugen persuades Fox to invest in his world. They later visit a gay spa, and Max hints at investing in Eugen's company. When Eugen is evicted from his apartment for the moral crime of two men living together, Fox agrees to help by purchasing an apartment and furnishing it through funds from Max. Fox also buys clothes from Eugen's ex, Philip, whose shop becomes a place of exchange. They share a family lunch at Eugen's parents' home, where Fox’s lack of table manners is remarked upon. Fox signs a 100,000-Mark loan contract—a document he barely understands—for a failing business run by Eugen's father, Wolf Thiess, [Adrian Hoven], and, in a moment of misplaced generosity, lends 30,000 marks to his ex Klaus, which stirs jealousy in Eugen.
The couple hosts a party at their new place, during which Hedwig, drunk, creates a scene. Fox and Eugen later go on holiday to Marrakech, Morocco, in hopes of salvaging their bond. In Marrakech they hire a local male prostitute, Salem the Moroccan, [El Hedi ben Salem], but the hotel refuses him entry because of his ethnicity. Returning home, they learn the company is bankrupt and workers cannot be paid. Fox suggests giving up his flat to Eugen, and the bank allows a loan to pay the workers. Eugen then departs for the opera with Max, leaving Fox alone; Fox visits the gay bar, where the florist shows interest, Fox reacts with hostility, and a panic attack follows. He tells Eugen about the attack, but Eugen seems indifferent.
Fox visits a doctor, who prescribes sedatives, and the strain of the situation pushes him to end the relationship. He discovers that the 100,000-Mark loan was repaid through his own monthly salary, a fact that deepens his sense of confusion and betrayal. When he returns to the apartment, Eugen has changed the locks and resumed his relationship with Philip. Fox argues with his sister and sleeps in his car, eventually selling his De Tomaso Pantera for a fraction of its value. Back in the gay bar, he encounters the American soldiers, and, overwhelmed, sobs as the florist tries to console him.
The next day, Fox lies dead on the floor in the underground; he has taken Valium and killed himself. Two schoolboys steal his money and watch as Max and Klaus—who have seen him—choose to walk away, uninterested in involvement, leaving the boys to loot Fox’s body in the aftermath. The tragedy closes on a portrait of a life created and then broken by a world that offered glittering promise but delivered isolation, debt, moral hypocrisy, and emotional harm.
