A dream comes true for Paula (Franka Potente), a gifted and ambitious medical student, when she's invited by the famous Professor Grombeck of Heidelberg to participate in an elite summer course in anatomy. But a disquieting shadow darkens Paula's happy little world when she finds the cadaver of a young man on her dissecton table - a man who, just yesterday, was full of life. When she begins to investigate the young man's death, she unearths some unseemly secrets at the seemingly respectable institution. Despite warnings from her professor and fellow students, who urge her not to delve further, Paula's unstoppable ambition compels her to get to the bottom of the mystery - and to jeopardize her life.