In a fast-paced drama of action, rejection, and near-revenge, novice director Bruno Kiser has used the backdrop of real carnival celebrations to highlight the trials and tribulations of Markus (Gerhard Dillier), an aspiring actor who leaves Munich for his hometown to have fun during the pre-Lenten festivities. Life has not been smiling on Markus, and he needs a break. But on arriving home, he discovers that his friends no longer include him in their circle, and his ex-girlfriend is going out with a former rival. As his alienation grows, so does his rancor, and the inevitable happens -- he ends up in a knock-down drag-out brawl with his ex-girlfriend's new love, who accidentally falls some distance and suffers a concussion. The resultant uproar in the town leaves Markus with punctured tires and threats of violence from supposed former friends. Just when things cannot get worse, they do, and Markus is forced to go into hiding. Now his only hope is the woman he once dated, the one person with enough common sense to know that the escalating hatred has gotten out of hand.