The Detour tells a semi-autobiographical tale of a young woman's obsession with a charismatic older writer. Dutch actress Tamar van den Dop plays Johanna, a directionless young woman unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend. Taking in a play by the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard, she finds herself deeply moved by its dark themes of suicide, solitude, and the impossibility of human contact. She begins to familiarize herself with all of Bernhard's work, becoming fascinated to the point of obsession.