The summer of 1990 is hot in the countryside of Thuringia, in former East Germany. Maria is about to turn 19, lives with her boyfriend, Johannes, on his parents' farm, and would rather lose herself in books than focus on graduating. With German reunification, there is a sense of a new era dawning as Maria bumps into Henner, the farmer next door. One touch is all it takes to ignite an all-consuming passion between Maria and the headstrong, charismatic man twice her age. In an atmosphere buzzing with possibilities, love is born: a secret passion full of longing and desire that devours everything in its path.