Paule’s life is like a roller coaster. Until that day when he feel in love with Julia, who had grown up in sheltered surroundings and is older than he. What follows is an encounter between the two, but Paule’s longing for love leads to disaster…
Paule (15) lives an exciting life around Friedrichstraße and Alexanderplatz in Berlin, where, together with his Bosnian friend Arnel, he steals from department stores and robs people on the street. That’s still better than counting the number of new men visiting his mother Hanne. Arnel hopes to escape from his brutal cousin Ilya to return home one day to his village. When Arnel steels a valuable icon from Ilya’s father, this dream seems within reach. Walter, a former friend of Hanne’s – whom Paule admires – is suppose to handle the deal.
Everything changes when Paule robs Julia’s purse. Paule is so fascinated by her that he does everything he can to get close to her. Without Arnel’s knowledge, he observes the attractive young woman during her favorite sport – springboard diving – and he even enters her home to return the purse and clumsily offer her gifts. But also Julia – hoping to put some sense in her over-sheltered life – starts taking an interest in Paule’s fast-paced lifestyle. For the first time in her life she commits a robbery and begins to enjoy the unknown freedom this strange world offers her. She also sees in Paule a possibility – otherwise than with her unemotional father, Dr. Behringer – to draw some attention to herself .
But when Ilya and his friends torture Arnel because of the icon and hurt him severely, she suddenly realizes how dangerous and brutal this new world is. Only Paule’s intervention can save Arnel’s life. Julia, too, takes a brave stand: she brings the badly injured Arnel to a doctor she knows and then she hides him in her home while her father is on a trip. While Julie is nursing Arnel during his fever, she and Paule come to trust each other. But when Julia suggests they inform the police – something Paule fears because of Arnel’s relatives – they start to argue. And because Paule is still on Arnel’s side after they find out he has robbed something from Julia, she kicks them both out.
Paule is mad at Arnel for separating him and Julia. But still he goes to Walter to get rid of the stolen icon. That’s when Ilya’s gang finds out. Paule has no other choice but to inform the police, who put Arnel in a children’s home. On Paule’s 16th birthday he is reconciled with Julia. Hanne’s present is a voucher for the two of them at “R 37”, a high-class hotel restaurant where she works. Also, Walter und Hanne are reconciled. Paule has to promise Julia that he will bring the icon to the police to protect his own life. They go swimming at the Müggelsee.
The idyll only lasts a short while. When Julia returns home, her father awaits her. He found evidence of the boys being in the house, and he also found out that Julia hasn’t been at school for days. While Paule is carefully preparing for the evening at the restaurant, Julia is locked by her father in her own room. Paule waits a long time for her at the restaurant, then goes to her home in the Zehlendorf suburb and frees her in quite poetic and crazy way. Both spend a romantic night together in an old factory, where Paule has his hideout. Paule wants to be tender, but both are unable to warm to each other in this eerie place. Paule is hurt.
All of a sudden, things move at a fast pace. Arnel, who has escaped from the children’s home, is in the factory searching for the icon. Ilya and his gang are after him. Again, Paule is torn between his friend and the girl he loves. Before he can make a decision, Arnel panics and vanishes into the dark. Paule runs after him, leaving the frightened Julia behind him. But Paule cannot help his friend. The gang finds Arnel and wound him badly with a knife. The emergency doctor, who arrives quickly on the spot, cannot help – Arnel dies. Paul watches in desperation as Julia’s father takes her home. Too much has happened to her that night. When the new day dawns, Paule is alone.