This is the story of the handmaid Kate set in the near future. She lives in a faraway country, once the United States of America, which is now ruled according to the laws of the Old Testament. The few women who can still bear children are called "handmaids" and are allocated to the families of the ruling class. Kate was herself a mother. But now she is supposed to not only fulfil her mistress's ardent wish for a child, but also satisfy the forbidden desires of her commander. However, Kate only appears on the surface to submit herself to these demands. She makes her mistress an accomplice, her master a friend, and the chauffeur her lover. Caught in the net of her secret relationships, Kate is in danger of losing her life. Each one of the three could betray her. All that remains is her hope, strength and will to survive.

In 1964, Volker Schlöndorff directed his first feature film, Young Törless, which won several awards and was the first international success for the budding movement of the New German Cinema. Several films should follow, like the quirky, mischievous genre-mix A Degree of Murder or the journey into the Heimatfilm-genre, The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach, as well as the Western-inspired literary-adaptation Michael Kohlhaas or the emancipation-tale A Free Woman. With The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Schlöndorff had his box-office breakthrough in Germany. He co-directed this film with Margarethe von Trotta. The film-version of Günter Grass’ The Tin Drum became Schlöndorff’s biggest success to date. The film earned him a Palm D’Or in Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, opening him doors for international productions. German-American films with an international cast followed, including Death of a Salesman with Dustin Hoffman or Palmetto with Woody Harrelson.