Two thugs from the Perth suburb of Midland catch the last train to Fremantle. When a young woman boards the train a few stops later, they begin talking and find out not everyone on the train is not who they seem to be.

An adult's memoir of a childhood spent with his mother and two sisters in Australia in the closing year of WWII. While his father off fighting the Japanese, two Italian prisoners of war are assigned to help out on the family's estate. Later they are joined by two German refugee women. Problems of country life and personal tensions come to a head.

All Wally Mellish, an ex-convict in 1960s Australia, wants to do is live a quiet life with his girlfriend Beryl. Unfortunately when two police officers come around to disturb this, a misunderstanding quickly becomes out of control, resulting Wally, Beryl and her child being trapped in their house, surrounded by armed police under the impression that Wally is holding everyone hostage. Events quickly spiral into a media circus as, through the siege, Wally - inadvertently - manages to become a symbol for the anti-war movement.