Elliptically, the drama tells the story of a ten-year-old who tries by all means to win his mother's love.

Alyosha (10) grows up in a Russian-German world. He lives with his mother Marina (29) at grandma Nadja's (54) in a very small space in a panel housing estate. Relations at home are strained, his mother is rarely there because she has a new boyfriend. Alyosha doesn't have an easy time at school either. But there is one thing that brightens his life: When he lights a match and focuses on it, the fire gives him what he is craving for: inner peace. Mother Marina dreams of a new life with her new boyfriend and his children from his first marriage. But the first meeting with Alyosha turns into a disaster. In the end, a Barbie house is on fire - and Marina sits back on the train with Alyosha, at a loss, she don´t know how her son is supposed to fit into her dream of a better future. After a heated fight between Marina and Grandma Nadja, Alyosha's mother suddenly packs her bags and leaves. Without her son. The boy's world comes apart at the seams. He now fights with all means to win back his mother. He steals for her, does everything he can to do better at school - yes, he is even willing to throw away his beloved matchbox for Marina just to be with her again. When Alyosha actually gets a chance to fit in with his new family, he gradually realizes that there is no place for him there. His pain discharges in a conflagration that threatens to destroy everything.