In a quirky, small town, situated in the outskirts of everything, 14-year-old Martin is getting ready for one of the most formal transitions from boy to man; the communion. It's 1976, music's in the air and hormones are blossoming. But in the midst of it all Martin's mother suddenly passes away and her tragic death trickers a series of events that not only changes Martin's life forever, but also affects everyone else in the local community. Overwhelmed with grief neither Martin's dad, nor his older brother, is capable to comfort Martin. He enters adulthood in a mixture of drunken happiness and immense sadness over the loss of his mother, and his relationship to both his friend Kim and girlfriend Kristine comes to its natural conclusion.

A treatise of the human animal no. 38: HEARTACHE is an absurd depiction of the human being and its eternal tendency to have its heart broken. In eight standalone chapters, we meet the patients at the now closed Sanatorium for Heartache, in their assiduous attempt to cure themselves of this terrible disease. Meanwhile, on Antarctica, we join the penguin Edgar on an epic journey, as he traverses snowy plains and stormy mountains in an attempt to once again be reunited with the love of his life.