The middle aged Marianne has a disillusioned daughter of 16 with no belief in her future. She becomes a punk and starts getting in conflict with the police, and Marianne realizes she supports her daughters cause to fight against the madness.

In the not-so-distant past, somewhere in northern Norway. The main character is Margit, an orphaned young girl. She has been sent to live on the farm of Krestian and Johanna, where we also find the farmhand Bæla, a physical giant but mentally still a child. Krestian and Simon, his brother, are constantly fighting with each other, and Simon tempts Bæla with "a thousand kroner" to get him to "beat the crap out of Krestian." Margit senses that something is about to happen and tries to prevent Bæla from becoming a murderer. Margit's surroundings include the helpless Vavva, the consumptive and malicious young boy Arild, and Magdalena, who has entrusted her life to the Lord.

Young Finn Olaf arrives at the Mo i Rana steelworks and, while befriending crane operator Trond and his wife Margot, embarks on a secret affair with Margot that shatters Trond’s stable existence.