Billy, a 20-year-old working-class youth, returns from military service hoping to build an independent life. Instead, he clashes with his father over his future and reluctantly takes a job in construction. After his friend Mike, a migrant worker, dies in an accident caused by the contractor’s greed, Billy lashes out in anger and loses his job. At the same time, his relationship with his girlfriend Mieke begins to fall apart when she is suspended from her teaching position.