Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.

After a video of Prince Wilhelm of Sweden fighting at a party is posted online, he is given a script for an apology speech and learns that his parents have enrolled him at Hillerska Boarding School, a prestigious boarding school in the country.

When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.

《戴上手套擦泪》根据瑞典作家乔纳斯·嘉德尔（Jonas Gardell）的同名小说改编。原著也被称为《爱》，是乔纳斯“爱、病、死”三部曲的第一部。小说主题是关于80年代艾滋大流行以及两个男孩在这一时代背景下的悱恻爱情。
1982年，男孩雷斯莫斯（亚当·帕森 Adam Pålsson 饰）对离开闭塞小镇科普姆感到如释重负，却不知从此再无相见之日。年轻英俊的他轻快的融入斯德哥尔摩的夜生活，在中央车站和同志酒吧与“同类”拥抱做爱，并由此结识了靓丽自信的保罗（西蒙·J·博格 Simon J. Berger 饰）。保罗住的公寓经常有证人会信徒挨家挨户宣传教义，某天一个叫本杰明（亚当·隆格伦 Adam Lundgren 饰）的证人会男孩上门为保罗布道，但保罗对他说“你知道自己是同性恋吧？”一句话撼动信仰世界。圣诞夜保罗邀本杰明参加烛光晚宴，就在那一晚本杰明和雷斯莫斯第一次遇见。当整个城市下起雪来，男孩们手牵手走过长街，一切就此改变…
所有故事都发生在80年代的斯德哥尔摩。同性恋已经去罪化，国家福利阳光普照，年轻人第一次相信他们迎来了所谓的“绝对自由”。但与此同时，一种前所未见的疾病开始蔓延扩散，并且找不到任何诊治手段。艾滋病，被称作是上帝在索多玛后对同志的又一轮天谴。病魔当前，有人轻易斩断血缘纽带，有人退回暗处成为游魂，有人讣告上一片空白，有人心惊胆战的出入病院，即便擦泪也要戴上口罩手套…