Set during a sweltering Milanese summer, Demetra in Esilio portrays the deep and ambiguous bond between a mother and a daughter, turning the myth of Demeter and Persephone into a reflection on the desire for emancipation, on care, and on the need to find one's own path. The film follows Lia and her mother Daria. As the city empties out in the summer heat, Daria is now confined to her apartment, where she has recreated a fragile ecosystem of plants. Lia divides her days between caring for her mother, everyday errands, and an art project devoted precisely to the myth of Demeter and Persephone. The images she films outside, almost like a visual diary, will gradually guide her towards the recognition of her own destiny.