De Frigjorte plot
Early 1990s: 300,000 Danes are unemployed. Viggo, a machinist with two grown children, keeps quiet about his feelings, fears losing his job, is vocal about the value of union work, is interested in his favorite fish, and argues during dinner. His wife Oda tolerates his moodiness and works on family genealogy. When Viggo is fired, he becomes a fish in water, rarely looking for work, starts a garden, and takes up with Karen, a polished but unhappy widow. He lies to his wife about a union training and goes to Mallorca with Karen. When she breaks off the affair, Viggo ends up in a psychiatric ward and has to figure out what is really important in his life and in his character.