There has long ago been a role reversal in the family – Jill is only 13 years old, but she has to remain the sane one, because her mother, Astrid, is mentally unstable, a drinker, and a depressive. When Jill gets home, the first thing she has to do is throw out all the half-empty bottles and glasses in her mother's bedroom. Her absent father announces that he’s coming to visit his children on Jill’s birthday, and Astrid disappears shortly before the planned visit, so the young girl begins to lie. In order to make the fears and worries that Jill’s battling perceptible, "Phoenix” is shot in horror film style, appropriately enough. The father, a jazz musician, appears as a ray of hope, wearing a white suit, in the dim world that overwhelms the children. Jill harbours hopes that he’ll take her along on his upcoming tour.