Rike - doctor from Europe, 40 years old - embodies a Western idea of happiness and success.
She is educated, self-confident, determined and committed.
Rike is an emergency doctor in Cologne, before starting her holiday in Gibraltar.
There she sets sail alone with her boat. Destination of her trip is the Atlantic island Ascension Island. Her holidays end abruptly when she finds herself in the immediate vicinity of an overloaded, damaged fishing boat after a storm on the high seas. Several dozen people are threatened with drowning and Rike first follows the usual rescue chain and calls for assistance by radio. When her requests for help remain unanswered, time is short and rescue by third parties turns out to be unlikely, Rike is forced to act.
Director Wolfgang Fischer portrays in STYX a strong woman on a sailing trip who has been suddenly torn out of her whole world.
