A former Eastern European soldier, Thomas, has taken refuge in London, working where he can and dominating abandoned apartments. A nun with an apparently generous spirit finds a place to stay, in an old house inhabited by a young woman named Magda. Magda’s sick mother is kept locked in a room on the floor of the house, Magda’s job being to take care of her day and night, and the responsibility consumes her. As Thomas begins to like her, he can’t get over the feeling that something sinister is going on there.