Germany in the early sixties, somewhere in a poor suburb. The ten-year-old boy, Micha, is brutally beaten by his father for minor misdemeanors. He receives little support from other members of his family and so decides to wage a personal war against all of them. He joins other bullies at school to terrorize people for amusement, including his own little brother, Peter because his mother preferred him. He sets off with his inventive friend Kalli. When the mother finally leaves the father, the plot is heading for the catastrophe.