Somewhere behind the early 1960s cold-war iron curtain, the Hollander family cause an international spying incident when Walter photographs a sunset in a sensitive region. In order to stay out of jail, the Hollanders take refuge in the American Embassy, which is temporarily being run by the absent Ambassador's diplomatically incompetent son, Axel.

Two serial killers meet and fall in love in an asylum for the criminally insane. Upon escaping their corrupt captors, they flee to the country to try and lead a happy, normal life. Unfortunately, "normal" turns out to be a state of mind...an elusive state of mind.

After inadvertently causing his lover's death, a guilt-ridden geneticist begins an obsessive hunt for the gene that triggers his previsions of impending deaths.