The film is adapted from two works by Czech novelist Květa Legátová - "Želary", a collection of short stories published in 2001, and her 2002 book, "Jozova Hanule".

In the 1940s Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Eliška is a nurse who works alongside her lover, Richard, a respected surgeon.

Days later, she arrives at Richard's apartment to find their friend, Slávek, with news that the Gestapo has apprehended two of their members, putting everyone at risk of discovery.

Joza takes her to their new home, a small cottage with no electricity, dirt floor, and a fly-infested outhouse.

On the day of their wedding, Eliška rebels, but relents upon Joza's explanation that the villagers will not accept a strange, single woman.

Her best friend is Lipka, a boy whom the villagers treat as an outcast, but who is actually homeless due to his step-father Michal's dislike of him.

He survives through the goodwill of Žeňa, Lucka the village midwife, and Old Goreik, an elderly gentleman who lives with his daughter-in-law, Marie, a victim of spousal abuse.

She finds the villagers' behavior raucous and crude, and is particularly repulsed by Michal, the drunk, who makes unwanted advances.

Years pass and Eliška - called Hanula by the villagers and Hanulka by Joza - bears witness to a number of incidents.

The Nazis, though scarce in Želary, kill an entire family for harbouring partisans, and then murder an innocent man in front of everyone.

His parents, the Kutinas, then force Michal's pregnant wife and Lipka's mother, Aninka, to do all the farm work, which leads to her miscarrying.

After a night of celebration, Joza reminds Eliška that she is free to leave (their marriage being technically invalid).

The film was mostly shot on location in the Malá Fatra mountains in the Northwest region of the Slovak Republic.