A dark and claustrophobic film, this brutal, tragic, gut-wrenching drama is set almost totally within the confines of a ship's cargo container that is only 25 square meters in size. It is the grim story of six ill-fated refugees trying to get to Canada from a port in France. The police are in hot pursuit when the septet of strangers are stowed away in the huge metal box. The refugees -- two men, two women and two children -- are of various backgrounds including Gypsy, Russian and Arab. The first of many problems occurs when a mother and daughter arrive with no food (they lost it during a chase). The one Russian refugee, Roman, declares that they should not be allowed to board the ship, but the other three refugees allow them in. Their ordeal begins when the ship breaks down in Liverpool.

Abdou, a young runaway, stops at a service station on the motorway Paris-Marseille where he meets Georges, the attendant. Georges decides to quit his job and take the boy to Marseille to watch the World Cup. Their heads stuffed with dreams, their pockets empty, the two grow closer as they travel along, meeting some amazing people on the way.

The story of Venezuelan revolutionary, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the OPEC headquarters in 1975 before being caught by the French police.