“Painful Years” is a film about the consequences of domestic violence, showing how the cycle of violence works in relationships and in families. The film is a portrait of three women and a man who, either as victims or as perpetrators, have experienced domestic violence. The protagonists look back at their own experiences, describe the circumstances, the behavior patterns they adopted and what their own role was in the onset and escalation of the violence. The after-effects are, and remain, ever present through their lives and the lives of their children.