九岁的马蒂尔德与母亲生活在一起，父母因为各自的原因分居了。马蒂尔德的母亲是一位十分脆弱且濒临崩溃的女人。两人之间却发生了一些独特的关于爱的故事。

Set against the backdrop of a small traveling circus, a European clown and his 5-year-old daughter lead each other through the everyday mysteries of love, magic and loss.

In the prehistory of man, 12,000 years ago, two members of a superhuman tribe abuse the treasured secret of eternal youth. They use the methods of ritual cannibalism on the children of their own tribe and when discovered by the 'Queen' of the tribe, they are cursed to an eternity of old age with no chance to ever die. …

根据侦探小说鼻祖美国大作家爱伦坡的著名小说改编。江湖棋人带着他的“机械棋手”走遍整个欧洲与人下棋，他们来到马埃泽尔，一农场主留住了他们摆开了棋场，“机械棋手”百战百胜。然而在与农场主妻子苏菲下棋时，却把苏菲颈部抓伤。原来机械棋人并非机械的智慧，而是藏在机械底下的小矮人所为，小矮人把秘密都告诉了苏菲，苏菲对长期被关在箱子…