Spring 1915, Austria-Hungary.

Beset by feelings of guilt, 18-year-old Johann leaves his home village. Even years later, he still feels responsible for the tragic death of his neighbour's boy Fritz in his childhood. The war now seems to offer Johann a chance to escape - away from the desolation of the village and towards the realisation of his big dream: a life in the South Seas.

Together with his friend Bernd, who has arranged a safe place in the military kitchen for both of them thanks to his influential father, Johann tries to survive the fighting from a distance. But when a mission takes them to the Eastern Front, the young man is confronted with the brutal reality of war and his deepest fears.

In the midst of violence and chaos, he gets carried away with the crazy idea that he has to save the life of a young woman in order to finally pay the debt for Fritz's death. But he soon realises: Guilt and trauma cannot be erased by heroic deeds.