In a Norwegian coastal town, society's carefully woven threads begin to unravel when an unsettling stranger named Johan Nagel arrives. With an often brutal insight into human nature, Nagel draws out the townsfolk, exposing their darkest instincts and suppressed desires.

At once arrogant and unassuming, righteous and depraved, Nagel's bizarre behavior and feverish rants seduce the entire community even as he turns it on its head—before disappearing as suddenly as he had arrived.