The day three kids disappear without a trace in New Zealand, Adrian's grandmother gives her eleven-year-old grandchild a crewcut. Throughout the film Adrian is given little opportunity to recover from the sense of uneasiness evoked by the shave. His mother has no capacities for him in her life; his fellow pupils bully him; the closest relationship he has is with his depressive uncle, a painter who is soon institutionalized. The only bright spots in Adrian's life are the encounters with his new neighbour's children. But one of the girls is suicidal and she draws Adrian into her plans. The film recounts a New Zealand childhood in artfully framed cinemascope images, whose expansiveness further increases the children's isolation.