Clara (Margherita Buy) is a psychiatrist and social worker. Her sister, Nina (Valeria Golino) is perennially chasing or running away from normality (her son, her love affairs) and doesn’t talk about herself to her sister. Perhaps Clara would not even be able to understand her if she did.
Nina runs away yet again and Leo (Ennio Fantastichini) is a slightly crazed nurse at the local ER sent to find her. He meets Clara and she soon realises that she has fallen in love with him and cannot live without him.
When Nina returns Clara wakes up to life and makes the effort to understand her patients better. Despite her best efforts she simply cannot get close to one little girl who killed her pet dog. Clara realises that she doesn’t like Nina and is offended that she feels this way. She cannot get through to Leo either despite his being a free spirit who wants love without responsibilities and only wants to give. But he cannot hold on to Nina...