It's fall in Stuttgart, just before Halloween, and thirty-something mothers Judith and Leonie are safely ensconced in their upscale apartments in one of the city's best neighborhoods. Judith has squeezed her life into the straitjackets of stay-at-home Waldorf motherhood—no TV, no sweets, nature hikes, and, above all, routine—and marriage to staid university professor Klaus. Leonie is proud of her work at a bank and her husband Simon's career, though she worries that she's neglecting her young daughters, and that Simon's work distracts him from his family. Over the course of a few days, Judith and Leonie's apparently stable, successful lives are thrown into turmoil by the secrets they keep, the pressures they've been keeping at bay, and the waves of change lapping at the peaceful shores of their existence. Shorter Days is a heartrending exploration of the joys and challenges of modern family life.