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Widowed socialite Alma Mahler enters affair with controversial artist Oskar Kokoschka in 1912 Vienna. Their intense passion spirals, jeopardizing their lives.

In spring 1912 recently widowed Alma Mahler, Grande Dame of Viennas Society gets involved with the "Enfant Terrible" of Viennas Art scene, Oskar Kokoschka. After some time their Affair, the lust and desire for one another starts threatening both of their existence to the extent of no return.

Vienna 1912: After the death of her husband, the famous composer Gustav Mahler, Alma Mahler is a wealthy woman. Fine Viennese society lies at the young widow's feet. But Alma detests convention. She is interested in the "enfant terrible" of the art scene, the young painter Oskar Kokoschka. She lets him paint her and seduces him, even though she is already involved with someone else. A sexual adventure turns into a passionate affair. Oskar regards Alma as his muse and is obsessed with possessing her completely. But Alma herself is an artist with a drive for self-realization. After years of standing in the shadow of her famous husband Gustav Mahler, she now wants to fight for her own place in society as a composer and is not prepared to sacrifice her success for love again. After two years of a passionate relationship, Oskar is convinced that he has won Alma over after all. He has beaten off all rivals and they are expecting a child together. But he painfully realizes that one man remains invincible to him: Gustav Mahler. A quarrel ensues with Alma, which culminates in an act of violence driven by jealousy. She loses the unborn child and never wants to see Oskar again. As a result, Oskar enlists as a soldier in the First World War, is seriously wounded and ends up in a sanatorium in Dresden. Still obsessed with Alma, he recreates her as a doll and writes a play in which she plays Eurydice. He invites Alma to the premiere. She hesitates, but then travels to Dresden and only arrives at the theater for the final scene when Eurydice asks: "Is it love or hate?" After the final applause, Oskar walks past her with the puppet, the spitting image of Alma, carefully in his arms and does not recognize her. This is the moment when Alma painfully realizes that Oskar has fallen for an image of her that is no longer her and makes it impossible for them to get back together. She leaves the auditorium and never sees Oskar again.—SRF