When Miriam splits up with her wealthy lover, she and her 15-year-old son Michael have to move from posh Zehlendorf to run-down Berlin-Neukölln. The boy finds friends in his new neighborhood, but at school he is victimized and pressed for money by Errol and his gang. Handing over money from a burglary rather serves to encourage the bullies instead of warding them off, so Michael is desperately looking for a better solution.