David and Sarah - an artist couple, live with their children in Devon - South England. Sarah is considered one of the most important contemporary painters meanwhile David is struggling for success as an actor and playwright. The headmaster of the language school calls it »good luck« that accommodation could be offered with David and Sarah as a host family to the German woman Rebecca and her daughter. The pair spend their summer in that little village to learn English. But Rebecca, having escaped her aggressive ex-husband, has to learn soon that appearances can be deceiving. Still suffering from her own past, she feels the shadow of emotional abuse within her host family. When Sarah leaves with the children for a vernissage, Rebecca becomes closer to ambivalent David. However, the more she learns about his life, the more reality becomes distorted.