Ella Nygaard has been a ward of the state since she was seven years old, the night her father murdered her mother. She doesn't remember anything about that night but the panic attacks she suffers incapacitate her for days.

When Ella is admitted to a psych ward, her son, Alex, is placed with a foster family. In desperation, Ella kidnaps Alex and flees to the seaside town in Denmark where she was born - and is forced to confront her childhood demons.