The Skåne farmer Jeppsson has a tax debt and gets into trouble when he refuses to pay.

The young girl Lisbet lives on the farm Tolfmansgården together with her mother, her older brother Jerker and their grandparents.

Thomas Hell is an officer in the Salvation Army. He has religious doubts and questions the meaning of his work. He meets Lili, an ex-prostitute struggling to start a new life and he falls in love with her. However, she has a pimp, the boxer Herman, who won't let her leave.