In 1950 the Soviets are trying to crush a budding resistance movement in the countryside of Estonia. A girl doesn't understand why her mother was arrested or why her father was upset when she cheered on the young pioneers as they marched.

In the midst of Stalinist tyranny, six-year-old Leelo's mother is sent to a prison camp. Haunted by her mother's last words telling her to be a good kid, Leelo vows to be on her best behaviour in the confusing grown-up world in the hope that it will bring her mother back.