Nicoline, a single woman and a renowned prison therapist who is between jobs and not interested in full-time employment, begins a new assignment at a prison hospital, taking over the caseload of a previous counsellor who resigned. There she meets Idris, a charismatic convict with a history of sexual violence who is on the cusp of unsupervised parole. Most of the staff feel comfortable with Idris’s behavior and are confident enough to grant him unsupervised leave on a trial basis, while Nicoline remains wary, sensing something unsettling in his charm and the way he can read people. The contrast between professional confidence and moral unease sets the tone for what follows.
Her reservations deepen as Idris’s demeanor appears controlled, yet a troubling incident between two other inmates shadows his record. She remains convinced that the path to parole isn’t as straightforward as her colleagues suggest, and she begins watching his progress with heightened vigilance. As their working relationship starts off with distrust, Idris asks if they can switch counsellors, a request that Nicoline rejects, accusing him of crossing boundaries and insinuating that he is manipulating her impressions.
On a night out, Nicoline and her co-worker Alex have sex while intoxicated, an event that complicates her professional boundaries and personal loyalties. At work, Nicoline’s threat of an indefinite stay to gauge Idris’s response becomes a blunt test of his limits, while she continues to disagree with her colleagues about Idris’s trajectory, arguing that charm and convenience are not proof of genuine rehabilitation. Her sense of duty clashes with a growing personal fixation.
Over time, Nicoline develops an obsession with Idris, tracing small details—like the fast-food chain he once mentioned—while night after night the distance between her professional role and private longing widens. She tries to salvage her relationship with Alex by attending him at a prison basketball game, but Idris’s presence continually complicates things and the alliance frays. Following this, Nicoline’s doubts about her professional responsibilities become more persistent, though they are dismissed by her supervisor.
During Idris’s first unsupervised trip, Nicoline follows him to a remote beach, where at a quiet, secluded spot Idris hints at knowing what she wants but stops short of giving in. The mounting tension begins to strain Nicoline’s relationship with her mother [Mother Nicoline], who normally shares a loving bond with her daughter. The pressure builds until Nicoline briefly tries to end the liaison, triggering Idris’s anger and leading him to flee, during which he seems to have harmed a rabbit he had been caring for.
Later, in an empty gymnasium, Idris suggests they change counsellors, but the moment they share becomes charged, and they kiss. The emotional fallout leaves Nicoline feeling detached and uncertain about the best path forward. She contemplates telling her boss, only to find the boss absent when she seeks guidance. In the meantime, her intern, Marieke, offers information that exposes Idris in new light and reveals that she too visited a similar fast-food chain, making Nicoline feel foolish about her own fixation.
Desperate to bring some order to her life, Nicoline cleans her apartment, but Idris visits and presses her to consider dating him after his release. A bell rings but Nicoline hesitates to respond, and a tense conversation follows, with Nicoline admitting she is afraid of him and the pair arguing in the shadows of their complex dynamic. In a devastating turn, Idris exploits Nicoline’s fragile mental state and rapes her, a violence that her situation and emotions have helped to shape.
In the aftermath, Nicoline returns to Idris in his cell and provokes him into a moment of kissing outside the camera’s view, then triggers the belt alarm to make it look like he’s assaulting her. Guards rush in and take Idris away under that assumption. The film closes with Nicoline alone in Idris’s bed, then standing and walking away from the room, a movement that carries a quiet, ambiguous sense of calm and unresolved consequence.
