On a small green island out in the sea, they live in harmony - until a stranger comes. Like a hurricane this rocks the small society, and a killing lets all hidden forces loose.
Aslam is a young boy moving from Pakistan to Norway after his father has got a new job. The meeting with a completely different culture and country in the cold North is a mixed blessing.
13-year old Rikke sees Bea, the new girl in her class, as a challenge. After an endurance test to find which of them can lie longer in a circle of flames, they become friends. However, as a result of some unfortunate truths and half-truths, the friendship falters. Rikke feels that Bea has let her down, and resolves to continue the rivalry between them, but now in a less physical, more artful way. In addition we meet Rikke's elder sister Ninni, who has been in England to learn the language, and has had to leave her great love, a man twelve years her senior. The film is also about the problems Rikke encounters in fulfilling the expectations of those around her as she approaches womanhood.
A nurse gets into a dispute at work because she switches to speaking English when she gets nervous. A translator compromises her integrity when persuaded to translate a book she doesn't believe in. An elderly woman and her daughter are humiliated when offered a present of one million kroner from a relative. A warm and nuanced film about people who all mean well, but end up hurting one another.
A group of migratory rail road workers arrive in a small town in Norway, and cause social conflict. One of the men, Sjugur, stands apart as a strong, independent man. The girls like him, but he has set his sights on the daughter of a wealthy landowner.
Film director Pierre is making an erotic thriller with his girlfriend Greta. When men start disappearing, parallells between the movie and real life becomes obvious.
