A suburb of Hamburg is where the Morells and Wagners live, each a father-mother-son family. Both are perfectly normal families, even at second sight. The fathers have been friends for years and work together for the same company as salesmen for Swedish pre-fabricated houses. The adults meet up on a regular basis to play cards, rounding off the image of harmony and order. What the parents don't know: there is brutal, despairing animosity between their adolescent sons. Robert, the younger and also smaller of the two, is repeatedly fleeced by Paul. One day he finds himself cornered by his sadistic tormentor to the extent that he shoots him in blind rage. When the parents have buried the corpse of their neighbors' son and do their utmost to cover up the crime, a most desperate and drastic tragedy begins.