Bike safari in Bergman land

Sisters Anna and Ester are traveling by train with Anna's son Johan when they are forced by Ester's poor health to hole up in a hotel in a strange country seemingly on the verge of war. Anna shuns the attentions of her desperately ill sister. She goes out and picks up a man in a bar. Ester is left to cope with the pain of her desire and her illness; it seems they are one. Meanwhile the boy explores the mysteries of the old hotel, playing out the fears inspired by the passions around him.