In a Slavonian village, in 1960s, a rich man Marko offers Janja to marry his son Iva, which Janja sees as the perfect opportunity for her dreams to come true.

The recently divorced father of a nine-year-old, furious his daughter can't spend her birthday with him, bursts into her classroom with a birthday cake and a rifle. A hostage crisis ensues, and the mayor of the town in which the events take place will try to use the situation to gain advantage ahead of the elections, stopping at nothing. The son of a young policeman is in the same class, and before the events unfold, he'll have to answer a question as well.

The script follows the emotional and spiritual downward spiral of a modern man breaking down under the pressures of everyday life.

Ankica is the proud owner of a legitimate massage salon, which she runs with her best friend Ljilja. She dreams of keeping her out-of-work husband and adult daughter in comfort while helping Ljilja pay for her son's recurring rehab programs. But in reality, Ankica’s debts are mounting, and she refuses to add happy endings (sexual favors) at the salon to increase revenues. When a loan shark threatens to take her apartment if she does not repay her debt, in desperation, she turns to crime.

The bleakness of young individuals' life during transitional 1990s Croatia.

To pay off his gambling debts, Lembach, an ex-officer of Austro-Hungarian army, extorts money from his wife Laura and her lover Krizovec. Krizovec himself has a love affair with Russian countess Georgievna, who herself is also into romantic relationship with another Russian countess. This tetragonal love affair comes to its boiling point.