Finnish meteorologist Hannele Korhonen managed to land 1.5 million dollars in funding to spend three years studying her speciality, clouds. The study was commissioned by the United Arab Emirates. Their ultimate goal is one of Faustian ambition – they want to create rain in the desert. Korhonen travels from the spare, functional rooms of the university to the overpowering decadence of Abu Dhabi and is quickly enmeshed in a swirl of contradictions. The ideals of freedom, alongside her responsibility to science, bump up against the ambitions of a career-conscious academic. Gently, with carefully composed framing full of poetry, the film draws a portrait of an ambivalent person. Small cracks begin to appear in the self-affirmation that Korhonen depends upon to help her overcome doubts and insecurity. As the first person in her family to go to university, she does not have a firm grounding in the nuances of academia. As a woman in a world dominated by men, she is an anomaly. With a grim smile, she battles for control.