In Denmark in 1967, people are on the streets protesting the Vietnam War. The newspapers and TV are reporting on the race to send the first man to the moon. But for brothers Elmer and Erik, that mood of optimism and freedom is a distant drum. When their single mother falls seriously ill, the state sends them to the Gudbjerg boy’s home. It is ruled by the sadistic, self-righteous director Heck, strictly according to the rules of long-bygone conservative educational methods. He uses the boys entrusted to his care as cheap labour, and keeps them docile with beatings, humiliation and medication. Elmer and Erik are shocked and soon put all their energy to getting out of the home. The film illuminates the conditions in youth homes in the 1960s, such as were not fully revealed in Denmark until 2011.