The titular Barbara, a doctor working in Berlin, applies for an immigration visa to help her connect with her lover Jorg who resides in the Federal Republic of Germany. In consequence of her actions, the authorities of the German Democratic Republic transfer her to a remote hospital on the shore of the Baltic Sea. There, Barbara fulfills her duties to her best while simultaneously planning her escape to the West. Barbara becomes even more paranoid  and unsure as she believes every person around her is an undercover security agent. Christian Petzold stands in opposition to the nostalgia of stories about the GDR portrayed in films such as ‘Goodbye Lenin’, and observes the oppressive  political system of Eastern Germany with a critical view. Barbara’s history, who is trying to escape the all-present invigilation, shows how hard it it is to live in a world where the line between truth and fiction is blurred.