A Swedish family spends a few precious days on vacation in a ski resort in the French Alps. The sun shines and the ski runs are magnificent, but while dining on the terrace of a mountain restaurant, an unfolding avalanche makes clients panic. While protecting their two children, Ebba, the mother, calls out for help from her husband Tomas, but his first instinct is to save his own skin. However, the avalanche stops some distance away and everything settles back down. There is no visible damage, and yet the family world is shaken.
Tomas unexpected reaction leads the family members to reevaluate their roles and the things they were sure of. In particular, a question mark hangs over Tomas's behavior. With the end of the vacation approachiag, Tomas and Ebba's marriage hangs by a thread, and Tomas tries desperately to retrieve his position as the family patriarch. Turist is a darkly humorous comedy about the role of the male in the modern family.