In post-war Germany, not everybody can enjoy freedom. Hans, a man who undergoes repeated prison time as he keeps being punished for his desires, experiences its passage differently from his recurring cellmate Viktor, a convicted murderer in it for the long haul. We begin in 1968, with Hans again arriving in prison. Viktor, an amateur tattoo artist, offers to cover up the camp number on Hans' forearm. Over time, the two men will exchange moments of exposure and need. Their bond is shadowed throughout by Viktor's deep-rooted homophobia and Paragraph 175, which criminalizes homosexuality. Despite all this, Hans and Viktor develop an unlikely bond.