SYNOPSIS

In a rural Hungarian town in the present day, seventeen-year-old Dani, who is struggling with anxiety around his academic performance, receives worse-than-expected results on his end-of-year exams. His parents, Tamás and Éva, become gravely concerned about his prospects for further education. Without Dani’s knowledge, Tamás arranges for him to write the test again with his math teacher, Erika, with whom Dani already has a strained and conflict-ridden relationship. Under increasing pressure and facing repeated humiliation, Dani ends up in a serious confrontation with Erika on the day of the test. During their heated argument, the boy attacks the teacher with a knife. One of Dani’s classmates intervenes and, while disarming Dani, who is blind with rage, is injured. Dani is arrested, and Erika is rushed to the hospital. Devastated, Tamás and Éva are shocked by their son’s violent behaviour. The following day, Erika dies from her injuries. Dani struggles with deep guilt while he is confined to a juvenile detention centre, and his family’s lives fall apart. Confronted with their new reality, his parents must face the legal and emotional consequences of the violent act, the harsh judgement of the community, and their own trauma. They run a small grocery store attached to their family home, which makes it impossible to shield themselves from public shaming. They are forced to continue their business under a constant shadow of scandal. Their younger son, eleven-year-old Ábel, who delivers groceries to the elderly on his bike with a trailer, is also vulnerable to the town’s rejection. Their five-year-old daughter, Petra, is taken from one psychologist to another, as she has  been suffering from urination issues since the incident. Consulting with Dani’s lawyer, the parents attempt to present as many mitigating circumstances as possible in court to reduce their son’s sentence. They emphasize Dani’s unstable mental state, anxiety, their own negligence as parents, and Erika’s unfair treatment of him, which the lawyer argues also played a role in the tragic outburst. In light of this, Tamás visits the family of Bence, who was also injured on the day of the attack, with the intention to apologise. However, the meeting takes an unexpected turn when Tamás reveals his real reason for coming: he has learned that Bence possesses a video, recorded by a classmate, showing the fatal argument between Dani and Erika just before the attack. Tamás wants to obtain the footage to help defend his son in court, but Bence’s parents respond with outrage and contempt and firmly reject the request. The emotional consequences of the crime and the growing confrontation with their own responsibility begin to drain the parents of all strength. One distressing evening, Tamás and Éva are struck with helpless horror when they learn that Ábel has been assaulted by Erika’s godson and his friends on an abandoned football field. While they wish to stand up against the cruel attack, their overwhelming guilt and shame paralyse them. Worsening disagreements push them further apart. Eventually, the two families agree to meet in an attempt to resolve the case of the assault of Ábel outside the courtroom. However, mutual wounds make reconciliation difficult, and the encounter exposes the painful truth each family carries. As Dani’s trial draws to a close, his guilt completely consumes him. During the week before sentencing, he confesses a secret to his parents. His revelation presents Tamás and Éva with a moral dilemma—one that threatens not only their legal strategy but also the remaining dignity of their family.