"The Chief Wife" is an impressive and touching work that shows how to trace a person's family history, even if no one is willing to talk about it. Its central figure is the 38 year old painter Marijke van der Meulen, whose mother Aagje left her and her family when her daughter was eight years old and joined a Christian sect. Ajie became the wife of a religious leader who manipulated his followers and was later convicted of child abuse. Marijke herself escaped the abuse, but she is still plagued by the traumatic memories of that period without knowing what exactly happened.