A crew from the U.S. intends to film a war drama at an abandoned sugar factory on the remote outskirts of a German city, making the nearby town, which had been a pool of stagnant water, seem to come to life. The residents are excited, each making their own little plans, until a tank pulls up in front of the mayor's house and a sudden power outage disrupts all plans.
Two brothers grow up in the Saxon province (part of Germany) at the turn of the millennium, where the dream of family happiness in a new house quickly turns into a nightmare of decay, violence and xenophobia as they desperately search for stability and belonging.