Poland, summer 1990. Ten-year-old Kai was brought to safety by his mother Minna with Polish friends. His father Arthur wants to kill him because he suspects that Kai has unwholesome tendencies. His sister Maggie fearlessly stands up for Kai and has to protect him from other children. On the way to school there is an argument in which the leader Conradi is seriously injured and Maggie becomes unconscious. Kai swears to his father that he will never tell Maggie the truth about himself. A scary man (Liliom Lewald) also knows that the introverted boy is special. He visits Kai and offers him to live with his "real" family.