A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.

Beautiful young German maid Katharina Blum meets Ludwig and they fall in love immediately and spend the night together. In the morning the police burst into her flat looking for Ludwig: he is a terrorist. But he is no longer there. Katharina is arrested, humiliated, suspected of being a terrorist herself, dragged through the mud by the newspapers. This film is a plea for democracy and individual rights.—Yepok

Utterly unaware that the intriguingly mysterious and handsome stranger Ludwig Götte, is an alleged terrorist, innocent and apolitical housemaid Katharina Blum has a night of passion with him after a late-night party. The following morning, an armed-to-the-teeth police squad ransacks her tiny apartment, triggering an endless nightmare, as both the authoritarian right-wing police and the ruthless gutter press commence a deliberate character assassination. Now, amid rampant terrorist hysteria and savage media frenzy, the fate of the courageous Katharina lies in the hands of a handful of men. Will her life return to normalcy? Will Katharina ever restore her lost honor?—Nick Riganas