In Scarfies, a group of college students think they've stumbled into some fast money only to discover there are some dangerous strings attached. Reliable Scott (Neill Rea), practical Emma (Willa O'Neill), naive Graham (Charlie Bleakley), charming but sneaky Alex (Taika Cohen) and Alex's embittered ex-girlfriend Nicole (Ashleigh Seagar) are all students at New Zealand's Otago University; Otago students are nicknamed "Scarfies" for the scarves that were once part of the student uniform. The five are looking for a cheap place to live and seem to have found one when they discover a large, abandoned house suitable for squatting, complete with electricity. But the real bounty is in the basement, which is hiding a large, lush garden of marijuana. The five quickly harvest the herb and sell it for a quick $50,000 (far less than it was actually worth), but they've soon managed to spend their new found wealth just in time for the man who planted the pot to arrive, ready to kill whoever made off with his cash crop. The five trap the intruder in the basement, but when it becomes obvious they need to formulate a long term solution, the tensions start to get the better of them.