After being away for four years, Rok Osterberg returns to his home town to investigate the murder of his younger brother Maks. As Maks was involved in illegal business, nobody seems to care about his death. The only person willing to help is a family friend, Inspector Kramer. Back home, Osterberg must face people from his past.

Anica lives in New Belgrade, a miserable district of tower blocks and concrete. She is mistress to Milutin, a wealthly local criminal who owns a solarium and runs a protection racket. Anica is determined not to grow old in this dump where neither love nor life seems to offer her a decent future. One grey winter’s day Anica has an idea to steal money from Milutin’s safe, get on a plane and leave the country forever.

Val Sebald is an author who comes to the Island to retreat from life and land. There he lives among the islanders and his favorite women, the heroines of various maritime novels. His relations with actual women from his past are reduced to messages in bottles that he ceremonially throws into the water. Val brings the real and imaginary people together into a place he is comfortable with, while his real life also becomes more and more one with the sea and the underwater world.

Rudi and Stane are best friends. They work in a factory together and help each other out in everyday life. One day the workers get upset by the news that their employers want to cancel their right to a lunch break. The trade unions disagree, but they cannot do anything about it: workers from China have appeared on the labor market. They are "cheap and they do not even eat lunch".

The employees at a printing company talk about the mutual relations of employees at the company and their family problems.