In a small remote Norwegian town live: a corrupt sheriff, an alcoholic shepherd, a nature-loving bootlegger, a God-hating pastor and a grieving pimp.

Everyone knows everyone in this desolate society on the fringes of civilization. Utmark is a place where the atmosphere is strange and wild, and hospitality does not apply to new arrivals. When an optimistic schoolteacher arrives in the village in the hope of a worry-free life in scenic surroundings, she soon realizes that the only one who behaves reasonably well is a 12-year-old girl.—Canon y mus