Saint Petersburg, in the early years of the 20th century, the Stasovs and the Radlovs live in relative comfort. Dr. Stasov and his blind wife, Ekaterina, live with their adopted Mongolian Siamese twins. Radlov, a railroad engineer, lives with his daughter Lisa and their maid, Grunya. Lisa is a young woman in her early 20s who hates Grunya who has become her father′s mistress when her mother died. She also suspects Grunya of having a secret liaison with a certain Johann, the owner of a photo studio. Johann who takes and distributes S&M photos in his studio gradually insinuates himself into both families.