Ashamed for being a debt-collecting thug, David believes that he is an ugly duckling waiting to become a swan. Through an unlikely mentor he finds out that life has indeed something very special in store for him.

The crew on board the fishing vessel Undercurrent RE 29 has become uncomfortably numb with its never ending routine of week long tours at sea. Then, during one dark and dreary night this routine is shaken to its foundation when one of the most solid crew members commits suicide. To fill his gap, a young woman takes his place on the next tour and gradually the fragile balance is tipped, and personal issues that should be left on the mainland cause dangerous friction between the crew members

Centers on Georg Bjarnfreðarson, an over-educated know-it-all who has just been released from jail after a ten year sentence for manslaughter, but is still a prisoner of his own past.