Jens Christian is a streamlined career man and newly appointed chairman of the Refugee Board. Work is the center of his life, and everything is going well until an adopted son announces his arrival and an unusually difficult asylum case lands on his desk. Suddenly, the right choice is no longer clear to Jens Christian, who is torn between obligations and emotions.

Istedgade is told in four stories that take place on the same day in or around Istedgade in Copenhagen and together form a lyrical portrait of the city and four women. We meet the flamboyant Emma, who wants so badly to please her boyfriend; the cautious Ida, who doesn't dare choose love; the hungry Nadia, who dreams of stardom; and the pregnant Sophie, who can't feel herself.

Throughout their childhood, siblings Tilde and Ruud have been moved around between foster families and new schools. Over time, they have learned that they only have each other to rely on. When one of them is bullied, they take cruel and ruthless revenge together. The question is, how long can they keep fighting?

Danish journalist Rikke Lyngvig is taken hostage in Afghanistan by a terror group. With help from one of the terrorists, the young Nazir, Rikke manages to escape. On her return, she is soon declared the Danish Jessica Lynch and her career is launched into the spotlight. All the while Nazir flees from Afghanistan, heading for Denmark. When he finally seeks out Rikke, she is shocked and torn. Is she willing to help the man who threatened to kill her, and to jeopardize her new-found career? Their tumultuous encounter turns into an ill-fated confrontation with their own demons and a nation driven by a hunger for sensation and political populism.