To attract new members to the church, a bizarre event is organized where a young man is to fall from the church tower. The young man already has a large group of followers, and in the region, no one wants to miss this fascinating event.
In a small village where people don't seem to get enough entertainment, a young man is engaged to balance on his head at the top of the church tower and thereafter fall to the ground and die. For doing this he will receive a great deal of money. The people gather enthusiastically at the church to watch the young man perform the task. It's all over in a couple of seconds. And to everyone's dismay the young man really dies in the end. Now their enthusiasm is switched into disappointment. To put up with such horrors should actually be forbidden, the people say and leave dissatisfied. The film is based on a short story by the Swedish Nobel Prize Winner Pär Lagerkvist.