A dysfunctional Dutch family is examined in this black comedy, set inside an enormous book-filled home in southern Amsterdam during the '50s. It is based on a Belgian novel. Within the house dwells an overbearing mother, her son Charles, a bookworm, and her daughter, Gina, a sexually ambivalent young woman. Their cousin Jozef stays with them. An aspiring writer with a taste for girlie-mags, Jozef spends most of his time in his room trying to think up a plot for his novel. He is inspired after learning that cousin Charles has become involved with the glamorous fluff-head next door. She is a murder suspect. When his mother learns of the relationship she becomes enraged and throws the woman's dog through a window. Meanwhile, Gina announces that she is a lesbian.