In the late 1860s, after becoming engaged to three bachelors in the town, Petra flees from an angry mob and seeks refuge in a rectory. Based on the Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson novel "Fiskerjænten".

The working-class family Bråten is living in a top floor of a tenement house on the outskirts of Oslo. The family includes three sons and two daughters, mother and father in one room and kitchen. Mother Hulda is the family hub while Mr.Bråten itself is a silent and withdrawn worker. Children contribute in their own way to the neighbors are right when they exclaim: Never anything but trouble! There are problems for all when the police come into the picture after the one his son is participating in a car theft. Middle of all this chaos, 16-year-old Maiken (Vigdis Røising) moves out and seek questionable friends, which brings her into conflict with his father. A tragedy brings the family together again.

A determined young boy living in a small village strives to obtain enough money to purchase a ticket to the cinema.