In this offbeat thriller, Halley Fischer (Katja Riemann) is a schoolteacher at an elementary school in Winnipeg where children have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Francis (Zachary Bennett) is a single father and classical pianist who supplements his income playing in cocktail lounges. Francis and Halley meet when his daughter is enrolled in her class, and Halley finds herself strongly attracted to the musician, even after learning of his unusual sexual tastes. But the more Halley finds out about Francis, the more she begins to wonder about both him and his highly domineering mother (Elizabeth Shepherd). Meanwhile, a cop (Graham Greene) starts hanging around the neighborhood, looking for clues regarding the missing children. Desire marked the first role in English for noted German actress Katja Riemann.