Self-taught philosopher Konsta Pylkkänen guides a group of researchers through Finland's Kainuu wilderness in the hopes of having a "sinistä ajatusta", idea out of the blue. While firing upon a hybrid of the hazel grouse and the western capercaillie, kinds of birds, he indeed makes a scientific discovery.

Valtteri and Sepe, two ordinary white-collar guys from southern Finland drive up north to implement a plan they've been hatching for months. Because they simply love the taste of lamb, baked "robber-style" in a hole dug under a campfire, they forge their car's number plates and other important documents just to be able to poach sheep grazing on the roadside without getting caught. Lots of man talk around the campfire, aided by lots of booze. The summer may be wet, but the vodka is definitely dry.

A poor wild-life writer named Hamsteri, who is obsessed with natural disasters, lives in a wooden cottage in the countryside with his only friend, Minnie the mouse. In the village he is considered a bit odd and he is indeed special! When a lottery-winning family moves in next door, Hamsteri gets the hoarding opportunity of his dreams and in the process changes the course of the lives of Rurik, a bookkeeper who has lost his will to live, his wife Tellu and their children. Thus begins hoarding for what Hamsteri imagines will be "the cruellest winter ever".

Bright young soldier Mertsi suffers a permanent brain injury in the Second World War. In the late 1940s he wanders around the Finnish countryside looking for simple work and relying on other people's help. A workmate, Ville, tells him about his clever Spitz dog back home and the problems with her overlong dew claws. Together with his helpful war buddy Eetvi, Mertsi joins a lumber camp in the middle of a freezing winter, tries hard but finds the work there too strenuous for his body and mind. While he still sees nightmares about the war, in the daytime he keeps dreaming and worrying about the dog...