Lorsque Ditte Jensen se retire avec les honneurs des services secrets danois, elle emménage dans un immeuble de Reykjavik où elle va pouvoir cultiver son jardin et vivre sa vie dans l’anonymat. Mais Ditte ne peut cesser d’être qui elle est. Un soldat d’élite et une guerrière. Et bientôt l’immeuble se transforme en champ de bataille pour un monde meilleur. Avec son sens profond de la justice, elle décèle les problèmes de ses voisins et se sent obligée de les aider, qu’ils le veuillent ou non. Et dans son monde, la fin justifie les moyens. Toujours.

A young girl breaks up from her petit bourgeoisie home and her piano lessons to lead an entirely new life, as one of the personnel at an institution for juvenile delinquents in a remote part of Northern Iceland. It is the 1970s and the young people in charge of the place are heavily into flower power, sitar music and solving problems by frank talk sessions with the delinquents. However, the hippies, who themselves despise authority, soon find their own authority under attack by the rebellious youngsters, especially after the arrival of a mysterious young girl. Then a violent incident occurs that will have a decisively detrimental effect on relations at the institution.

Thirty-year-old Hlynur still lives with his mother and spends his days drinking, watching porn and surfing the net while living off unemployment checks. A girl is interested in him, but he stands back from commitment. His mother's Spanish flamenco teacher, Lola, moves in with them for Christmas. On New Year's Eve, while his mother is away, Hlynur finds out Lola is a lesbian, but also ends up having sex with her. He soon finds out he and his mother are sharing more than a house. Eventually he must find out where he fits into the puzzle, and how to live life less selfishly.