In order not to end up as a lock keeper in the country like his father, 18-year-old Abel wants to go to the USA to become a stuntman. Girlfriend Merle is supposed to come along, but then finds out that she is pregnant.
On Christmas Eve, Francesca sets out for Rotterdam in order to find her little sister, who has run off with her musician boyfriend. On the way, she picks up Gerlinde, a heartbroken older woman at the end of her rope.