The young parents Anna (Katia Fellin) and Louis Bürger (Max Riemelt) finally want to get their lives back on track - steady work for both, no more parties, no drugs and a nice home for their twelve-year-old son Tim (Claude Heinrich). But when a neighbor who lives next door, policeman Jan Landrock, is found dead in front of her house and the Dresden detectives Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) and Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) investigate, the convicted Louis quickly becomes a suspect. Louis can persuade Anna to free him from custody. Together with Tim, who is in the care of the youth welfare office, they want to flee abroad and there completelystart all over. But when they want to pick up Tim from the children's home, the investigators come first. The escape attempt turns into an unplanned hostage-taking.
Louis and Anna hole up in the kitchen of the home with Tim, the home manager Lehmann (Anita Vulesica) and 17-year-old Nico (Emil Belton). Winkler, Gorniak and Commissariat Manager Schnabel (Martin Brambach) work feverishly on a strategy to de-escalate the situation and get Louis to give up. But as long as Landrock's real killer isn't caught, Louis is prepared to do whatever it takes. Inspector Winkler breaks into the home and puts her life at risk.