A pair of children befriend an eccentric old man, who lives isolated on the far shore of their island home. But it turns out that the old man knows a terrible secret about the island and the whales who sometimes come. Meanwhile WWI is making life hard in the village.

When Kelly and Max, two 13-year olds from widely different social backgrounds, form an unlikely alliance and take off in Max's father's Ferrari for an illegal trip to Brighton. On the way they discover more about life and each other than they had bargained for.