Jan has been married to Gedda for 35 years. Gedda loves Jan so much that she smothers him: before he can grab a glass from the table, she has already given him one. She picks out his clothing, his friends, his vacations and all their other activities. In an attempt to get some space Jan concocts a strange plan that literally transforms his marriage into a locked ward. Their daughter finds herself in a similar predicament with her exacting and jealous boyfriend.

The film is based on the popular Dutch childrens book by Chris van Abkoude. In a Dutch port in 1921 lives a 10-year-old orphan boy known to everyone simply as Little Crumb. His poverty-stricken mother Lize van Dien filled with shame was forced to turn him over to Mrs. Koster soon after he was born. Foster mother Mrs. Koster, who has cared for him since he was a baby, is very poor too, unable to support him by herself and proves to be a cruel taskmaster who insists Crumb bring her money before shell feed him. Somehow he must earn his keep out on the streets and can only go home after he has earned enough money. Crumb becomes an urchin stealing from the streets barrows and the shops to stay alive, sleeping in churches or huddled in doorways. Sometimes he has to run off from the police and he has earned the enmity of the most grownups around him.

Alex is very close to his elderly grandmother partly because his busy parents seem to have little or no time for him. One day he surprises two boys from his school leaving her house and is shocked to find her tied up inside – they have robbed her! Alex is sworn to secrecy as his gran is worried that her daughter will think her incompetent. This secret leads Alex into trouble as the two boys accost him in the street and bully him into becoming a pickpocket ("tasjesdief") for them, mugging old ladies. Alex learns how to deal with this situation in the end.

Detectives Grijpstra and De Gier are sent to investigate the case of a man who apparently hanged himself in a center for oriental meditation. It is ruled as suicide and the case seems to be closed, but the same night there is an attempted break in. The investigation hits a dead end and everyone involved is a suspect. Based on the book "The Corpse in the Haarlemmer Houttuinen” by Jan-Willem van de Wetering.

A heavily overworked nurse is being stalked by a mysterious figure during her night shift in the nursing home. While trying to tend to everyone’s needs, she also has to deal with her stalker and pushes herself to extremes.

Lovable Amsterdam street urchin, 11 year old Ciske is nevertheless much in need of love as the Dutch 1984 title suggests. He is a scamp with a heart of gold. He causes havoc in the classroom pouring ink over his teacher yet when a polio-crippled boy joins the class Ciske is one of the only children to befriend him and is bullied as a result. His mother works in a bar and Ciske helps out often late into the night - his father is at sea and his mother supplements her income with prostitution. Ciske is also a very angry young man and he smoulders with rage at life's injustices.

Melissa is a 15-year-old girl who loves to dance. Her parents think she is taking classes in classical ballet, but once at the dance school she devotes herself to the hip-hop dance classes. Melissa is good friends with Jordi and he is very happy for Melissa when she is asked to dance in the music video of the famous rapper Brainpower. But because of bad influences, her life becomes a nightmare. Until her real friends decide to get her out of there.

When ex-colleague Peter de Beer is killed, detective De Cock is facing the ultimate challenge. Peter’s daughter Michaelle, a witness of the murder, is in shock and cannot help De Cock. But, does the killer also know this? Out of precaution De Cock takes the little crown witness under his wings. To his regrets he concludes that his past pursues him. The trail is leading to a couple of old-India travelers. These old but very tough men already prevented him to solve a murder case years ago. Also this time they try whatever is in their power to keep the murder covered up.

In a Dutch village during the German occupation, a small group of badly organized resistance fighters attempt to assassinate a collaborator.

A young medical student observes his neighbour's love life through a hole in his apartment wall.