State guests, international nobility, stars - Hella Wiegand loves her work as a housekeeper in the elegant grand hotel in Hamburg. Appreciated by her colleagues and superiors and popular with the maids under her supervision, she has a promising career ahead of her. Then Hella accidentally witnesses a sexual assault by her boss Jakob Braunstein on the chambermaid Shirin. She wants to support Shirin and convinces her to defend herself. But Braunstein manages to turn the tables. Hella suddenly finds herself in the pillory and Braunstein shamelessly exploits his position of power...