The film deals with, among other things, Operation Carthage carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Copenhagen, Denmark during the Second World War, where one of the planes crashed near Institut Jeanne d'Arc, causing the school to be misidentified as the target and also bombed.

[1] In 1945, a Royal Air Force (RAF) de Havilland Mosquito strafes a car carrying several bridesmaids while flying over German-occupied Denmark, mistaking it for a German staff vehicle.

The RAF pilots Pete and Andy learn about the accidental killing of civilians from the Danish Special Operation Executive agent Major Truelson.

In an attempt to prove God's existence, Teresa strikes an illicit romantic relationship with a HIPO officer named Frederik, who works for the German occupation authorities.

While Eva and Rigmor attend a class, Sister Hanna confronts Teresa over her relationship with Frederik and announces plans to expel her from their order.

During the air raid, Peter and Andy's Mosquito fighter-bomber hits a searchlight tower, causing it to crash near the Institut Jeanne d'Arc.

[3] In the opening sequence, the film depicts a fictitious fatal air attack on a group of innocent women carried out by the RAF pilot Peter Kleboe, who later crashes by the school in the main bombing campaign.

However in several interviews and a television show Bornedal claimed that a key final scene of the film was based on a real life conversation between a nun and a dying child.