Daniel Daréus (Michael Nyqvist) is a successful and renowned international conductor whose life aspiration is to create music that will open people's hearts.

After suffering a heart attack on stage at the end of a performance, he retires indefinitely to Norrland in the far north of Sweden, to the village where he endured a terrible childhood of bullying.

Daniel buys the old elementary school in the village, and soon after is asked to come along one Thursday night and listen to the local choir.

Inger (Ingela Olsson) is married to the respected minister, Stig (Niklas Falk), but has failed to develop a loving sexual relationship with him.

Daniel staggers into the restroom, unsure of how to handle the situation, then stumbles and hits his head on the pipe below a sink, causing him to bleed severely.

He lies helplessly on the tile, blood gushing from his head, listening to the choir harmonising wordlessly over the loudspeakers.

The final scene shows Daniel rushing through the wheat fields towards his younger self, whom he raises triumphantly, having achieved his life's goal, to "create music that will open a person's heart".

A recording of proceedings was made for the director Kay Pollak and, via a pre-recorded message to the audience, he thanked Sydneysiders for embracing the film so warmly.

A stand-alone sequel, Heaven on Earth (Swedish: Så ock på Jorden), also directed by Kay Pollak was released in 2015.